Queen of Spades
by LostAndLonging
Summary: Sequel to Ace of Spades. After training for ten months in Nen, you are finally in Yorknew City to meet up with Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Kurapika. But there's a storm brewing between Kurapika and the Spiders, and it won't be easy to escape. Cover art by: txnHippie92.
1. Calm Before the Storm

She'd sensed it ever since stepping foot in Yorknew City.

She had walked off the train and stepped into the streets, and instantly felt it. It hadn't mattered, then, that the sky was completely cloudless, or that a cool, winter breeze brushed past her cheek. It hadn't mattered that the man taking her ticket had smiled at her and told her to have a good day. She could still feel it: a gathering pressure, an atmosphere too quiet to be at all natural.

The calm before the storm.

She had felt the growing hush as she'd called up Gon and arranged for the meeting. She had felt the foreshadowed crackle of electricity running through her veins as she'd looked into Kurapika's eyes for the first time in ten months. She'd felt the ominous tension roiling through all five of them, as they'd pretended to laugh and talk and catch up, telling each other about what had been going on since they'd last seen each other.

A storm is coming, a cataclysm that will rock this city down to its foundation. Kurapika is the precipitant; the Phantom Troupe is the thunder and lightning and rain. She knows that anyone caught up in it will be lucky to leave unscathed. And she knows that this will possibly be the most dangerous thing she's gotten involved in yet. For if Esu himself is in the Troupe, she knows they may very well be just as powerful as he, if not more so. This could very well cost her her life.

But Kurapika is her friend. And friends help each other.

"Si? Are you okay?"

They're sitting in Gon and Killua's hotel room, chatting. After meeting up several hours ago at a restaurant, they'd walked around Yorknew a bit before deciding to go back to a hotel. Since Gon and Killua had gotten the nicest rooms (she's broke, and Leorio is a college student, which is its own form of poverty) they'd decided to come to here. As comfy as the chairs are, she thinks they made a very good choice.

She turns to Gon, smiling faintly at the remembrance of her 'name.' Years ago after suffering the worst pain of her life, she'd changed her name from Y/N to Silent, then to Si. She's used it for so long it now almost feels more a part of her than her own name.

"Yes, I'm fine, don't worry. Just thinking."

"Oh, okay! We were just talking about the auction. Killua and I, uh," Gon looks a little sheepish and shifts awkwardly in his chair, "made some bad investments recently and we don't quite have enough money to get that game, Greed Island, from the auction. Leorio was suggesting some ideas."

She wonders what 'bad investments' is supposed to mean but decides it'd be better not to ask. "Oh, yes. That game your dad wanted you to play, right?" Gon nods. "How much is the starting price? Several hundred million?" After all, it's the mafia. Everything they do is pricey.

Killua huffs, muttering something like _I wish._ She raises an eyebrow, slowly growing suspicious.

"Actually, Si..." Gon's sheepish smile gets a little larger, "It's more like...uh...5.8 billion."

She blinks. _"Six billion!?"_

Kurapika and Leorio look similarly stunned and horrified. Apparently neither of them had known just how high the price was, either. "Gon, how much money did you say you have now?" Leorio asks suspiciously.

This time, it's Killua who answers. "Combined, around ten million."

"Gon, Killua, it's not possible to get enough Jenny to secure a winning bid in the amount of time that's left," Kurapika says measuredly from her left, crossing his arms and leaning back against the couch. "You'd have to actually go out and steal the money yourself."

"We're not stealing it!" Gon declares. "And we're not gonna do anything else illegal, either. But we are going to get a copy of Greed Island!"

Suppressing a sigh, she and Kurapika exchange glances that read something like _well, you have to admire his stubbornness._ "Okay, Gon," she says then, "if you aren't going to steal it, then how are you planning on getting it?"

Leorio claps his hands. "That's where I come in. You see, I have a plan..."

* * *

"Arm wrestling? _That's_ your plan?" She and Kurapika lock gazes and shake their heads minutely in exasperation. "How are you going to make 6 billion off of that?"

Leorio laces his fingers together and leans forward. Since he's sitting on the other end of the couch, she has to lean forward as well in order to see him. "It's a technique I've learned. We buy a diamond worth several million and put it on display. Then we put Gon at the table. Most people will underestimate him since he's a kid. We make each person pay an entree fee of, say, ten thousand dollars. And bingo!"

"In order to get the amount of money you need from that, you'd have to beat 590,000 people. And that's just to make a starting bid! Gon couldn't possibly beat that many people in a few days."

"Hear me out." Leorio glances over at her, a trifle pleadingly. "We only do that for the first day. By then, word will have spread that there's a super strong kid here and we'll start attracting the bigger fish. Probably a little into the second day, we'll have someone approach us for something not quite so legal and a whole lot more lucrative."

She glances over at Gon. "I thought we agreed we were going to keep this legal?"

Leorio groans in exasperation. "I didn't say it'd be illegal! Just...a little riskier."

"I think it's a good idea," Killua cuts in before she can say anything else. "It's our best bet right now, anyway. We need more money if we're going to even try other things."

Si nods and stays quiet a few seconds, thinking. "Why Gon? Aren't you stronger than he is, Killua?" Everyone stiffens, turning towards her in surprise. She just raises an eyebrow at the assassin. "You can try to fool me, but I know that you Zoldycks are put through a severe training regime." She recalls what he'd once mentioned about himself: that he'd gotten to floor 200 of Heavens Arena years ago, when he was just a child. "There's no way that you aren't at least as strong as he is without Nen."

Killua scowls at her. "I was hoping to keep that hidden for a little longer. Thanks a lot, Si." She grins at him. "But yes. I could probably beat Gon at arm wrestling if neither of us used Nen. If we did use it, Gon would probably beat me, seeing as he's an Enhancer and I'm not."

"So why not use Killua instead?" she asks. "If he's stronger, he'll do even better."

But Leorio's already shaking his head. "No, we shouldn't use Killua. There'll be some people there who recognize him as a Zoldyck. And even if they don't, you agree Killua has that aura around him. He _looks_ scarier than Gon does."

She assesses Killua for a moment and has to agree. Whereas Gon is all naivety and innocence, Killua is clear and cold, analyzing his surroundings at every moment and ready to attack. "Alright. Gon does the arm wrestling, then. Leorio, I'm assuming you'll be the announcer for him, right?" He nods. "Kurapika, what are you going to do in the meantime?"

"Like I told you earlier, I'm a bodyguard for a certain family with mafia connections. I'll be reporting back to them soon. If the Troupe does happen to show up here, I feel confident I'll be able to get them to let me hunt the Spiders down. What about you, Si?"

That's what she's been trying to figure out, too. She doubts that Gon needs anymore help today- knowing Killua, there's no way he won't be with Gon at the arm wrestling thing. With Killua there to handle anything that gets out of control and Leorio as his announcer, Gon should be fine. Kurapika's going back to work, so he doesn't need her, either. That just leaves...

"Kurapika, have you met up with Esu yet?"

Everyone tenses at the name. When they'd first met several hours ago, they had discussed their various plans while they walked through Yorknew. Si had sensed Esu in the shadows by way of her new abilities and told her friends then and there that Esu was hers to fight.

"No, not yet. I haven't seen him except for earlier today when we were all together. I believe I'll be meeting him tomorrow morning."

She nods. "I'm gonna go looking for him, then. Maybe check out the rest of the city while I'm at it. When should we meet up next?" The irony of the situation doesn't escape her. Ten months ago, it had been her trying not to get too close to these four, mostly out of fear of abandonment. Now, it's she who's basically organizing meetings for them.

"Um...how about tomorrow night at six?" Gon asks.

"Good enough for me."

Kurapika nods, and Leorio does as well. After a short discussion about the meeting place, Si and Kurapika stand up, bid farewell to the three remaining, and walk out. It's only as they're partway down the stairs that Si speaks. "Kurapika...how have you been doing?" _Tell the truth,_ she begs him silently. She's seen the new resolve in his eyes. She knows well how good people like him are at faking being fine.

"Me? I've been fine."

 _Liar,_ she thinks. But she stays silent.

"How have you been, Si? Did you find a Nen teacher?"

She smiles. She'd never actually told any of them that she'd left to find a Nen teacher- just that she wanted to find a teacher to help her grow stronger. But of course Kurapika would put that together. "Yes, I did. An amazing one, actually." Images of Nigg, with his unruly hair and equally unruly temper, flash in her mind.

They exit the building and step out, and are greeted by the cold, December air. "Do you truly, honestly think you're strong enough to kill the Spiders?"

Kurapika doesn't hesitate. "Do you think you're strong enough to fight Esu?"

They start walking down the street, presumably towards the hotel Kurapika's employer is staying at. "Don't turn the question back on me, 'Pika." She snorts at the disgust on his face. "Don't like nicknames?"

"Not really, no. But to answer your question...yes. I do believe I am strong enough to kill them. All of them."

They're silent for a minute or so. The sun begins to dip down the horizon, turning the buildings pink and yellow and orange. She sighs. "I don't just want to fight Esu. I know he wants to fight me, but...I just want to figure him out. He's a mystery. More than that, though, I can't help but feel there's something familiar about him." Her head throbs. "I just can never put my finger on it."

"Well, if he does turn out to be a Spider, I guess I can spare him for you, but only for a little while. Once you know what you want to know, give him back to me."

She nods slowly. Kurapika being confident- no, certain- that he can kill Esu, the man they've seen kill people like they were no more than flies, says something about the kind of person the boy's become. And she's honestly not sure if she likes this Kurapika more...or less. How can she support someone whose only goal in life is to murder people, revenge or no revenge?

Kurapika stops. "This is as far as I'll go with you. The less you know about me, the better."

She stares at him for a few moments. "Kurapika, we aren't your enemies. We're your friends."

"I know that. But what if the Troupe found out about me through one of you?"

"Kurapika, you can't go through life expecting the worst. You can't carry everything by yourself."

The boy just shakes his head, eyes flashing coldly. And then he turns his back on her and stalks away.

Si watches his back as he moves, watches it slowly get smaller and smaller until it's swallowed up in the sea of people. And her heart aches for him, for well does she understand the pain of losing your family. She knows, better than many, the incredible emptiness that accompanies it, that emptiness that for Kurapika is held at bay by his rage.

She wants to run after him and stop him and ask him what happens once that rage is gone. She wants to shake him and tell him that revenge will do nothing to fill that abyss growing deeper inside him with every day. But he would never listen.

Si turns away and starts back towards the auction. She only half concentrates on her surroundings, knowing Nigg would kill her for it but too caught up to care. Kurapika might very well get himself killed by the Spiders- and if he doesn't, if he kills them instead, he won't be much better off. She can't honestly think up anything to help him. Helping him kill the Spiders won't help him out of that void of nothingness.

She continues down the streets in a sort of daze, not noticing when a new presence begins to move along with her, carefully hidden with Zetsu. But then, as the night grows darker and the streets less populated, the presence finally reveals itself. And steps out in front of her.

"Well, imagine seeing you here, Si."

Esu grins.

* * *

"Esu." She greets him with the barest nod and crosses her arms. Her head begins throbbing at the sight of him, like a hammer pounding through one specific spot in her skull. As used as she is to pain by now, she doesn't even blink.

"Isn't this such a pleasant surprise?" he purrs.

"Am I remembering wrong, or did you not tell me you wanted to kill me the next time we met?" she returns coolly.

He laughs. "You're the only person around who would dare say that to me, you know."

"I just want us to have an honest conversation." She stares into his gold eyes, unflinching, even as the throbbing in her head increases. She imagines there are words in her eyes she's trying to convey. _I know you're lying about something. I want to know what._

"Aren't you quite the impatient one today?" He's wearing different clothes from the ones she saw in the Hunter Exam. Honestly, she likes them better. He's lost the weird, puffy-sleeved blue shirt and replaced it with a sleeveless green one. His yellow jacket, thank God, is also gone, and he has new shoes. His armbands and makeup are different colors as well. Apparently he has _some_ fashion sense, after all.

"Like what you see?" He's smirking at her as she tears her eyes off his clothes and suppresses an automatic blush. It's not that she finds him attractive- of course not. It's just...the way he's looking at her. It'd be impossible _not_ to blush!

"I was just assessing your new style," she tells him. "I was beginning to think you didn't have any fashion sense at all, but you surprised me."

He huffs. Then his gold eyes flicker, taking stock of their surroundings. It's only then that Si begins to grow wary. Not scared- no, she didn't train with Nigg ten months to get scared the moment she's alone on the streets with someone. But wary...yes, definitely. Once he's ascertained the same thing she has- that they're alone- his eyes flick back to her. Purple flares up- his Ren. She expects to be hit with a wave of blood-lust, but it feels different this time. Almost searching, calculating.

She realizes what he wants almost instantly and shakes her head. "Like hell am I gonna show you how powerful I am."

"Is that so?" He steps closer. She steps back.

"How do I know you won't turn around and report my strength and abilities to the Spiders?" she challenges. She holds his gaze for a moment.

"Because they might very well kill you if I do, and that'd be disappointing. I'd still very much like to do that myself."

"Again with the threats," she mutters, stepping back again as he tries to get closer to her. She realizes he's close to pinning her against a wall and sidesteps, turning her back to the street instead. "What do you want, Esu? You wouldn't approach me if you didn't want something."

"How cruel. Maybe I just wanted to ask you how you were doing."

"I'm not asking again."

He laughs again, running a hand through his hair. A few strands fall out of whatever gel he put in it, falling into his eyes. "My, you certainly have gotten bold. I quite like that in a woman."

"Esu," she hisses. She glares at him until he caves, his eyes narrowing into something very much like Killua's whenever he goes into assassin mode.

"I wanted to see how powerful you'd gotten."

She senses he's telling the truth but...not the whole truth. "You're lying. You have other reasons."

"Well, let's keep it at that, shall we? My reasons are my own."

Her fist itches with the urge to punch him in the face, but if she did, she'd reveal how strong she is. And that is something she knows better than to do. "You're a real bastard, you know," she says instead with a scowl.

"Oh, I know." He smirks and turns to walk away. "Well, I'll be seeing you soon. Give my regards to Kurapika."

"Give them to him yourself."

With a last laugh and a mocking wave, Esu walks away. It takes five seconds for her to remember how to breathe again.

* * *

 **A/N:** To any and everyone reading this, thank you so much for coming back again to read this fic! I know sequels often aren't nearly as popular as their predecessors so I'm honored you apparently liked me/my writing enough to come back. I'm very excited to be writing this fic, and I hope you enjoy!

Until next time!


	2. Unfavorable Circumstances

_"I owe you another favor...if you tell me your sob story."_

 _"What makes you think I'll accept your offer?"_

 _..._

 _"Fine. I accept your offer, on one condition."_

 _"What is it?"_

 _"Two favors, not just one."_

 _"Okay."_

 _..._

 _"They're called contacts."_

 _Yellow-gold eyes, like amber in sunlight._

 _"I got tired of being called demonic for having 'freakish yellow eyes.'"_

 _..._

 _"Anything else?"_

 _"No. So, now that I owe you three favors, thought about what you wanna force me to do yet? Kill our principal?"_

 _Hisoka grins._

 _..._

 _"Well, I'll be off now. I'll contact you when I've thought up something for your other two favors. Bye-bye."_

 _What the hell has she gotten herself into?_

 _..._

 _The next few days pass in a sort of limbo. Now that school's over, she really doesn't have anything to do except help her mom around the house, read books, and surf social media. All her friends are either busy or out of town for the next few weeks, so she is well and truly bored._

 _As it is, that's exactly what makes her almost drop her phone in her eagerness to respond to Hisoka's text. But once she reads it, she just stares at it, confused. All he typed was an address and a time, nothing else. When she checks the time, she sees it's a little over thirty minutes from now, which makes her huff- does he not think she has a life? Does he think she'll just come at his beck and call or something?_

 _Then she sighs, typing in an 'okay, see you there.' If he thinks she doesn't have a life, then he'd be absolutely right. She's bored out of her mind right now: she'll take anything to relieve her boredom. She quickly boots up her laptop and types in the address, groaning when she sees it'll take her around twenty minutes to drive there. She needs to get ready now if she wants to be there in time._

 _But what should she wear? Hisoka hasn't given her any information other than the aforementioned time and place. It's around four in the afternoon, so it could go either way- she's currently still in pajamas, but the address seems to simply be a park. Since Hisoka isn't exactly the kind of person she'd imagine would be content walking around a park all day, that must just be a meet-up place. The problem is, where's he planning on taking her afterwards?_

Well, _she decides,_ no use worrying about it. No matter how much I try, I won't be able to figure it out, so I might as well just dress for the park. _With that thought, Si wriggles into a pair of jeans and puts on a t-shirt, frowning at her hair in the mirror and vainly trying to comb her fingers through it in an attempt to tame it. Forgoing any makeup, she pulls on socks and sneakers then bids her mom farewell (carefully leaving out exactly where she's going and who she'll be with), climbs into their family's car, and drives off._

 _Twenty minutes later she pulls into the parking lot, keeping an eye out for tall, pale, weirdly dressed males (seriously, couldn't Hisoka wear something that's not skintight for once? It makes her uncomfortable, and in more ways than just one). When she doesn't find him instantly she parks her car, climbs out, and starts into the park itself, keeping a careful watch for him._

 _"Hello, little swan," a voice purrs into her ear, making her jump. She spins around and glares at him._

 _"Would it kill you to approach me from the front like a normal person?"_

 _"It wouldn't kill me physically," he admits, grinning, "But emotionally...why, that's another matter entirely, my dear."_

 _She groans._

 _After a short silence, Hisoka motions back towards the parking lot she'd just come from. "Let's go back to your car. I know what I want for my second favor."_

 _She can't help it; she tenses immediately, fear and nerves roiling uncomfortably together in her stomach. "What is it?"_

 _"I can't tell you now. Where'd be the fun in that?" When he doesn't budge even after she gives him her best eye-roll, she obediently walks back towards her car. Without hesitation Hisoka climbs into the driver's seat, waving for her to get into the passenger's. She's too used to Hisoka by now to protest, knowing that if she does it'll all fall on deaf ears._

 _"I had a feeling you'd choose something like that," Hisoka tells her as he pulls out of the parking lot, flicking a wrist towards her clothing. "I'm glad you proved me right."_

 _"Why?" she tries again, hoping that he'll at least let something slip. "Are we going to go kill someone or something?"_

 _Hisoka just laughs, but the pit of nerves in her stomach grows worse. Having her help him murder someone as one of her favors is not entirely out of the realm of possibility for someone like him. Since he's not exactly disproving it..._

 _After a tense fifteen-minute drive with neither of them talking at all except Hisoka's muttered curses whenever they reach a stoplight, they pull up to...a school? She stares at the unfamiliar building blankly for several seconds, before she sees the sign and abruptly realizes. This is a private school. Hisoka mentioned his younger brother goes to a private school._

 _"Are we here...for something concerning your brother?" she asks hesitantly._

 _Hisoka flashes her a dazzling grin. "I knew you'd figure it out eventually. We're here to pick him up."_

 _Although that solves one mystery, it only serves to confuse her further. Why would Hisoka think it necessary to ask her to come pick up his brother? Is he just going to bid her farewell once he brings his brother back home?_

 _Hisoka pulls up to the entrance. A chubby, red-haired kid of around twelve is standing there rather impatiently, pale as snow (hah! She called it!) and sagging under the weight of a humongous backpack. His gaze first alights to her, then passes over with apparent indifference and drifts to the driver's seat. The annoyance clears, something like relief flashing over his face. He walks over, opens the back door, and slings himself in._

 _"Hey, bro," he greets, then turns to her. "You must be Y/N." Even though he has the voice of a twelve-year-old boy, vocal cracks and all, something about it is unnerving- as though he's analyzing every move made by the car's occupants and is calculating his reactions based on them._

 _"Yes, I am." The words 'nice to meet you' die on her tongue, both because she doesn't know how they'd be received and because she's not sure exactly how nice it is to meet him. What if the kid has Hisoka's amorality or even worse? She has no idea what she's dealing with, and if neither of them have parents, who knows how the kid turned out. Hisoka's...strange, yes, but he's not evil. He has feelings even if he doesn't show them, and he operates basically like a normal human. Can the same be said for his brother? "What's your name? Hisoka never told me."_

 _"Satoshi. Thanks for letting Nii-san borrow your car."_

 _Again, she swallows down the automatic niceties. Something tells her this boy wouldn't appreciate them. "You don't have a car of your own?"_

 _"Without our parents," Hisoka says, sounding a bit on edge, "our only money is what I make from work."_

 _She frowns. At age 17, Hisoka shouldn't even be able to have legal guardianship of his brother- do they not have a legal guardian? But once more she bites back the words. The last time she asked something personal of Hisoka, she had to make a deal and give away two favors. She isn't going to do that again unless she has a very good reason to. Other thoughts come to mind, like why Hisoka only asked her today to pick Satoshi up, or why Satoshi's school goes so far into the summer, but again, she knows they probably wouldn't be appreciated._

 _"You usually walk to school, then?" she asks instead. Red-brown hair moves in a nod in the corner of her vision. Usually, Hisoka would allow at least a little more information slip. Knowing Hisoka, he probably loves seeing the frustrated look in her eyes when he holds back something important. Today, though, he stays silent. Is it Satoshi's presence?_

 _The drive back to Hisoka's house is silent and tense, the only exceptions being Hisoka's continued swearing whenever they get a red light. As they pull up, she hesitates, unsure on whether or not Hisoka was just using her for her car or not. If he was, she can just say it's a favor and only have to deal with one more favor after that. But Hisoka steps out and motions first to his brother then to her. With an inward sigh, she climbs out and follows the two boys inside._

 _"Nii-san, I'm hungry," Satoshi informs his brother the moment the three of them walk inside. It's such a twelve-year-old boy thing to say that she has to suppress a smirk. Genius intellect or no, Satoshi seems to at least has the stomach of an average boy._

 _"Y/N and I will make you something." Satoshi nods at his brother's words and takes off, scampering to a door and disappearing into what she guesses must be the basement._

 _"Is his bedroom down there?"_

 _Hisoka nods, turning around and walking into the kitchen. His feet are nearly soundless on the wooden boards. "We have a pretty big house, but Satoshi seems to prefer having as much space to himself as possible. I live upstairs, he lives downstairs. We eat on this level."_

 _It seems like a lonely existence, but if there are any two people that'd be totally fine with it, it'd be Satoshi and Hisoka. "You sound close despite all that," she notes offhand, opening the fridge and inspecting the contents. Thankfully, Hisoka seems to have gone grocery shopping recently, so there's plenty of food. She grabs a carton of eggs and places them on the counter, then goes back and grabs a pack of ham._

 _"We do?" Hisoka asks, bending down and taking a frying pan out of a cabinet under the stove. Despite his words, Hisoka doesn't sound overly surprised._

 _"Well, he did call you 'nii-san,'" she reminds him. "I would've expected him to call you nii-sama or something like that, to be honest. Oh, do you want to make sandwiches or just ham and egg omelettes?" He opens his mouth with a smirk. "And_ no, _don't make that stupid egg joke again."_

 _"You don't like my jokes?" Hisoka asks, looking hurt and staggering backwards. "My lady! I'm wounded by your words."_

 _She gives him an unimpressed look. "Sandwiches or omelettes?"_

 _"We don't have any bread." Hisoka magically recovers from his mortal injury and turns the stove on. "Get me the shredded cheese."_

 _"What's the magic word?"_

 _Hisoka doesn't even spare her a glance. "The cheese."_

 _She crosses her arms. Hisoka isn't looking at her, but she knows he would've marked the slight rustle of clothing that heralded the movement._

 _"Fine," he huffs, cracking an egg. "Please."_

 _"Aw, you're so sweet!" she gushes in a sing-song. "How are the ladies not all over you by now?"_

 _"Well, you see," he finally turns to her and winks, "They already are, but you're the only girl for me, darling."_

 _She hits him, desperately trying to control her blush. "I walked right into that one, didn't I?"_

 _Hisoka laughs lowly, snatching the bag of shredded cheese from her hands and pouring it into the pan along with the eggs and ham. It looks surprisingly good, considering how Hisoka's culinary skills aren't the best. "Well, Y/N, I hope you've realized by now I didn't just call you over to pick up my brother and cook lunch."_

 _There's a long silence. Hisoka doesn't seem to notice, continuing to flip the omelettes._

 _"...Okay?"_

 _Hisoka neatly flips the food onto waiting plates, turns, and grins down at her. "I've decided what I want for my second favor." She closes her eyes, silently praying he isn't actually going to ask her to murder someone. "I want you to kiss me."_

 _Her heart stops._

 _What?_

* * *

The next day dawns clear, bright, and surprisingly warm. She accompanies Gon, Killua, and Leorio to their positions and watches from above as a crowd begins to gather. Leorio states their pitch and several men start forward, before being stopped by their friends. It's hard to hear clearly from up there, but she thinks she hears them say not to bother; that Gon's completely unbeatable.

She purses her lips, watching as the crowd slowly begins to dissipate. _I really hope Leorio knows what he's doing._ As if her thoughts had summoned them, a small group of well-dressed men approach. And then they say what Gon and they have been waiting for. "Interested in making some real money?"

Leorio leans forward, the perfect picture of supreme interest. "Meaning?"

"I know where you can make big bucks instead of the pocket change you're getting here. You can make hundreds- no, thousands- more than you're making here."

"When do we start?" he asks. Si's at least 80% sure that the greedy look on his face isn't entirely feigned.

"Now, if you'd like. Follow us." The small man jerks his head. Gon stands up, and the three of them fall into line behind the two men. Si follows them on the rooftops until they get out of the crowd, then gracefully leaps down and joins them. It's to their credit that the two men hardly flinch as she joins them.

"Are they moles?" Gon asks quietly after a few minutes. They've dropped back a few feet, so that the two men leading them won't hear their quiet conversation.

Leorio nods. "Yeah, looks like we landed a big fish."

"Fish?" Si suppresses a laugh at Gon's adorably confused face. "Don't you mean mole?"

"Stop talking. It doesn't matter!"

Now Gon looks even more confused, but before he can short-circuit himself, the two men in front stop before a door. "Here we are."

They step inside. The building is rather dingy, sporting questionable brown stains on the floors and walls. It fits Si's expectations exactly. The two men guide them towards an elevator. They're silent on the relatively short ride down, but as they get closer Si can hear faint cheering. Then the elevator door opens and she sees exactly what they've gotten themselves into.

It's less bloodthirsty than she'd expected, to be honest. No blood marks the ring the two competitors are sitting in, though a whole lot of sweat does. One of the competitors is just winning; she sees the other's arm fall to the table with a thud.

"I can feel the blood-lust," Killua remarks as they step up to the railing.

"The arm wrestling competition here accepts all comers, and it pays out. The spectators bet on each match, and the winner receives ten percent of all bets placed. We're talking billions bet on each match."

"That would mean millions with each win!" Leorio looks practically beside himself with joy.

"You could win even more..." the small man looks at them with an expression that has Si's defenses up instantly. "I'll be taking fifty percent of your earnings as my commission."

"Fifty percent? Isn't that a little high?"

Si exchanges glances with Killua. They both frown. But fifty percent of their earnings here is still better than what they'd earn if they were still out in the auction, so they don't really have a choice. They need money. This guy is willing to help provide it.

"You can't participate unless I enter your name. Besides, you can bet your own money. You'll get great odds with that kid and earn back your stake a hundred times over."

"That's right!" Leorio says excitedly. "I'm in! Go, Gon!"

"Huh?" Gon looks first at Killua, then Si. They both nod.

"He's right. It's a good deal," she says, motioning to the short man. "If you want to make enough money to participate in the auction, you should take him up on it."

Right as she finishes speaking, the announcer speaks up. "Well? Any other challengers?"

Si pushes him lightly towards the announcer. He and the small man start towards the ring, but just as Gon's about to go up, the lights flick on. A strangely clad man jumps into the room and yells, "Sorry, the arm wrestling is cancelled!"

 _Cancelled!? Seriously?_

"We'll be doing some conditional auctioning now."

She, Leorio, and Killua run down to where Gon and the other man are. "Why was it cancelled?" Leorio demands of the latter.

"U-Uh, I don't know."

"To win," continues the strange man, "you must play hide-and-seek!"

 _Hide-and-seek?_ Her brow furrows. _What does he mean?_

"We'll start by passing out flyers!"

She takes the paper she's handed and rapidly scans over it. She frowns. "Hey, Gon, isn't that the girl you beat in arm wrestling?"

"Yeah! She was really strong."

The voices around them are growing with excitement, murmuring about something that happened at the auction last night. They speculate that these seven people had something to do with it.

Si's eyes narrow. Kurapika had said the Spiders would try to interfere with the auction. These seven people definitely look dangerous, and if the girl was a definite challenge for Gon, then they should all be powerful. Is it possible these people are from the Phantom Troupe, or at least affiliated with them?

"In order to win the bid, you must capture and deliver a target to us. For each target brought in, you'll receive a nice sum of two billion Jenny!"

Two _billion?_ Then they must be very dangerous indeed, or the price wouldn't be worth the effort. Her suspicion grows. She can't think of any other organization- except perhaps the Zoldycks, whom she'd recognize- that would be powerful enough and daring enough to do this.

"There is no time limit," the man says, "and it doesn't matter whether the target is dead or alive. Please contact us once you've captured one!"

"Two billion each?" Gon asks.

"We'd have fourteen billion if we caught them all!"

She looks over at Killua. His eyes are narrowed, considering. She knows he must've heard the same things she did about the auction, and wonders if he's come to the same conclusion she has.

Over the speaker, the man states the entry fee: five million Jenny.

Leorio starts towards the growing line and motions to them. "We're joining in, right?"

They all nod. "Yeah," Gon says.

Si stays silent in the time it takes for Leorio to get through the line and sign them up. She keeps her eyes on the flyer but her ears open, listening to what the others around them are saying. Killua and Gon keep quiet, too.

Rumors and speculations fly around them at a rate almost impossible to keep up with. People wonder if they're a rogue section of the mafia; if they're Zoldycks; if they're one of the various other assassin groups around the globe. People speculate what the targets did, everything from stealing to murdering to national treason. But out of everyone she listens to, no one seems to agree on anything, which means no one really knows anything. The mafia is keeping everything concrete under wraps for whatever reason.

Leorio walks up to them and informs them that he's signed them up. They start walking out of the building in silence, and it's not until they're alone in the streets that Si breaks that silence.

"Do you think it's the Phantom Troupe?"

Leorio and Gon stop, wide-eyed, having obviously not considered it. But Killua just nods slowly. "I'd say so. After all, who else would be crazy enough to steal from the mafia?"

"Then should we even try catching them?" she asks next. "I mean...Esu joined them for a reason. If they're all as strong as he is..." She knows what these ten months have done to her. She knows she could, possibly, take on Esu and win. But what if they're even stronger than he? What if their abilities can counter hers? And that's assuming they'd be lucky enough to catch a single target alone.

Killua stiffens, as though something she'd said had struck a chord in him. "Maybe Si's right. If these people are as strong as Esu, it'd be pointless to even try."

"I think we should still try," Gon says. "After all, we don't actually know how strong they are! We might be able to catch them after all."

"We should try contacting Kurapika," Si says after a moment. "After all, we blew through when we were supposed to meet up with him. We should ask him to join us."

"We did?" Gon asks, then his expression crumples. "Aw, we did! I was so caught up in the excitement that I completely forgot! Aw, man, this sucks!"

"Hey, don't worry about it," Leorio reassures him. "We all forgot, after all. You should call him now and apologize for it, though. Maybe then we can ask him to help us out."

Gon nods and takes out his phone. He dials up Kurapika's number and calls, but after a while he takes the phone away from his head and frowns. "He's not answering."

"He's probably working at his bodyguard job," Si says.

"What if he was guarding someone at the auction when it got attacked? What if he got hurt?"

Si frowns, then shakes her head. "That's not like Kurapika. I doubt he'd let himself or his charge get caught up in all that. He's probably actively tracking them down as we speak."

"Yes!" Leorio agrees. "He's probably even caught two or three already!"

Although she wouldn't take it that far, she privately agrees that Kurapika's probably fighting or about to fight one of the Troupe members at this moment. "Well," she says, "What are we waiting for? Let's go catch some Spiders!"


	3. How Not To Catch A Spider

"Leorio, I got something!"

Leorio turns around excitedly to look at Si's computer. He's sitting in front of his own computer like the two of them have been doing for the past several hours, while Gon and Killua have been doing who knows what. "You got some info on the Phantom Troupe? What?"

"It's a video." Si clicks on it. "Not much, but they have two targets for us and a location. The people who sent in the info are currently tailing them. We should call Gon and Killua immediately."

"On it." Leorio pulls out his phone and calls Gon up. "Hey Gon, we got a lead in Yorknew Plaza. Yeah, this looks real. There's a video attached. We have two targets: a man and a woman. Si and I are leaving now, so let's meet there." After a short pause, he hangs up. "Right. Gon and Killua will be meeting us there so we should get a move on."

Si nods and stands up, turning off the computer in case someone should come in and see what they've been up to. Leorio follows her lead, and then they both walk out. It doesn't take them long to get to the plaza, so they stop just outside of it and call Gon and Killua again, where they organize a more secret place for their rendezvous. After a few minute's discussion, they finally arrange to meet up in the fourth floor of a building connected to the plaza.

"Where are they?" are Killua's first words to them as he and Gon walk up.

Si flicks her eyes to where the two targets are sitting. "There. The pink-haired girl and the guy with the sword."

Leorio calls up their informant. "I'm the one who submitted the request. Stop looking around, I can see you. It's the couple behind your boyfriend, right? I'll wire the money to you now-" he gives a significant glance to Killua- "so please confirm the receipt."

Killua pulls up his phone and clicks a few buttons, sending the money over. The four of them then watch as the couple not-very-subtly stands up and flees the scene. There's a short silence up in the room as they watch for any signs of alarm from the two Spiders, but nothing happens; they continue to talk.

"Okay, we should decide our next move," Leorio says finally. "How are we going to catch those two?"

Si considers. She evaluates their odds: Leorio, basically useless without Nen or any sort of training; Gon, without a Hatsu and bereft of experience except for stalking Esu; Killua, also without a Hatsu but with twelve years of assassin training under his belt. Then there's herself, but she doesn't want to reveal her Hatsu to anyone unless it's absolutely necessary, and her ten months of training were more about winning fights than catching people.

All in all, their chances aren't good.

"It's impossible," Killua says before she can open her mouth. "We aren't strong enough to handle them."

Leorio stands up indignantly. "What's that!? We won't know until we try!"

She and Killua exchange glances.

"Killua's right," she says quietly, turning Leorio's incredulous stare towards her. "They're good. Very, very good. I'd hoped that maybe there were a couple who weren't as powerful as the rest, but if there are, these aren't the ones. I'm the only one who'd have a chance at fighting them if it ever came down to full-on combat: they'd kill the three of you in seconds."

Killua's eyes widen in fear, the blue dulling strangely. It reminds her of the final test in the Hunter Exam.

"Seconds!?" Leorio scowls. "What a load of crap!"

"Quiet, they could hear us." Si closes her eyes for a second. She tries to think of a way to express just how powerful they are to Leorio, someone who's never encountered an extremely powerful Nen user before- wait. "Remember Esu?" she asks finally, opening her eyes to see Gon and Leorio nod. "Think about how powerful he was. That wasn't even half of how powerful he _really_ is, because he was consciously holding back any time he fought."

"Actually," Gon cuts in, "Killua and I saw him fight at Heaven's Arena. He fought this guy named Kastro, and he went full out!"

"No," Killua says, "He didn't. Remember when he said something about Kastro not being a worthy opponent for him, right before he killed Kastro? That wasn't the full extent of his abilities. We still haven't seen how powerful Esu truly is. And what Si's trying to say is, those two Spiders sitting there are probably just as powerful as he is. We don't have the skill to catch two Esus."

"Oh." Gon deflates.

"That's definitely beyond our level," Leorio agrees, deflating as well. Both of them look like kicked puppies, and Si has a strange urge to laugh.

"So, if we're agreed that we're not strong enough to handle them, what's our next move?" Si asks. "After all-"

They freeze.

Coming straight from the two Spiders is an outburst of Ren, almost as powerful and bloodthirsty as Esu's. Si takes a deep breath to steady herself, reminds herself that _you're different now, you can handle this._ The three others have paled and she can see perspiration breaking out on their faces.

"What happened?" Leorio asks quietly. "The atmosphere changed."

"It's Ren," Si responds. "Also known as blood-thirst. Have they noticed us?" she looks at Killua.

He shakes his head. "No, not yet. I think that must've been a disagreement between the two of them." He pauses, watching as the girl flips a coin into the air. Si wonders if that was how they settled the argument. "Well, what should we do? As Si said, we can't beat them in a fight."

"We'll find a way," says Leorio with his never-ending optimism, "we have to. We didn't pay that much money for a tip to just back out when it's too hard for us."

"Leorio," Si says, "this is more than just 'too hard.' They're Troupe members! You think they'll have qualms about-"

"Si, we should at least try." It's Gon this time. "I agree with Leorio that we shouldn't leave empty-handed."

She sighs. If Gon's set on doing this, there won't be any way for her to stop him. "Okay, but there have to be some ground rules. First, Leorio, you need to stay out of it. Your lack of Nen training could get you in serious trouble. Second, if they notice us or try to draw us into a fight, we leave." She turns to Killua. As an assassin, he'll probably have better ideas of what to do and what not to do. "What do you think?"

He nods. "Si, how good are you at tailing people?"

"I tailed that huntsman Geretta for a day or so, and ended up tailing Gon and Esu as well at the same time. None of them noticed me."

"So pretty good, then. Well, we should probably only travel in two groups so I can call the other group if I need to shut the operation down. Si, you go with Gon. I'll go alone. And Gon, I need you to make me a promise that you'll give up at any time if I judge it's too hazardous to continue."

"I promise!" Gon pauses. "But wait, why aren't you making Si promise the same thing?"

Killua cuts a dry look to Si. "Because I know she isn't stupid enough to keep going when she's in danger. Continuing on, make sure both of your phones are on vibrate in case I can't reach one of you. I'll try to call Si, but if I can't, I'll call Gon. If they separate, we follow the woman."

The targets stand up and start walking. The four of them follow, exiting the building and trailing behind their targets just far enough away for it to be impossible to be noticed. "Leorio," Killua continues, "contact Zepile and keep an eye on the auction for us."

"Got it!"

"Gon, Si mentioned something about tailing you and Esu?"

"Oh, yeah. Um, during the third phase, my target was Esu. I tailed him for a day."

"And he didn't notice you?" Killua stares at him, wide-eyed.

"Nope! I even got the tag! Although..." Gon looks down. "I lost it, so Esu ended up giving it back to me...which is why I had to punch him in Heaven's Arena..."

Killua hits him over the head.

"Ow! What was that for!?"

"It seemed appropriate. Well, it looks like you two know what you're doing. Let's go!"

* * *

"The targets have passed the plaza and entered a side street."

"Confirmed. Do they know we're here?"

"No." Si hears a slight rustle of movement as Killua begins to move. "Since we're using Zetsu, they shouldn't notice us unless something's really wrong. They're on constant guard against potential pursuers, though, so stay vigilant."

"Okay." She hangs up and nods to Gon. "We keep moving. They've entered a side street now."

Tailing the two Troupe members is physically and mentally taxing. Ever since feeling their Ren, Si's been on edge. After ten months of being exposed to Nigg's power, she's gotten used to feeling the pressure of Ren, but now it's different. Even though neither of the Spiders' powers is close to Nigg's own, they're still powerful enough that she knows that any wrong move on her, Gon, or Killua's part could wind up with them dead. And although she'd like to think that she'd stand a chance against them, her abilities have never been tested in life-or-death situations. She has no idea how they'll truly work, since she couldn't fully use them on Nigg. Not all of them, anyway.

They continue on, Killua keeping them updated every few minutes. Eventually, the targets start moving towards a deserted area. As she and Gon leap from rooftop to rooftop after them, doubt begins to surface.

Until then, Killua had firmly believed they didn't know they were being followed, and since he's a Zoldyck, Si had trusted him completely. But...Nigg had told her about this. He'd told her that any opponent moving towards an area without people was an opponent ready to fight. In a city, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people, powerful Nen users couldn't go full-out. But in a place like this...

She calls up Killua. "I think they've noticed us."

"I...I don't know." It's the first time Si can recall him sounding uncertain. "They could be heading back to their hideout."

"Or waiting to draw us out."

"We don't know that for certain. Until we do...we continue."

She hesitates, then says, "Okay." She doesn't like it, but...she'll continue anyway.

She hangs up, and for the next few minutes the only sounds heard are the slight pitter-patter of her and Gon's feet as they jump from building to building. But finally their targets stop. They're stand out in the open on a platform, staring straight ahead. Si instinctively knows that the targets aren't waiting for anyone except them.

She and Gon are currently inside a building, watching their targets. She suspects Killua's close by. He hasn't called them yet, but she thinks it's because Killua knows she's thinking the same thing he is: they're trying to draw Si and them out. If the targets react or seem to know where they are, all three of them need to make a run for it.

The man with the sword picks up his phone. They're too far away for Si to hear the details of the conversation, but she manages to make out 'we're being followed.' She glances at Gon, knowing he'd have heard even more. From his expression, it isn't good.

"What are they saying?" she whispers.

"They know we're tracking them, they just don't know where," he whispers back. "And-"

The man turns. His eyes lock onto hers.

Si doesn't have to say a word. She and Gon turn, and they _run_. But before they can get more than two steps, a woman steps in from the doorway.

Si's brain is basically a cacophony of curse words with the occasional lucid but unhelpful thought on how bad this situation is, but she manages to keep calm. Then she feels the slightest hint of something and, without looking, knows the pink-haired girl is behind her and Gon. _Damn it. If I hadn't waited, we might've been able to get past the first woman._

The long-nosed woman, the one in the doorway, steps forward. "Do you know the chain user? And don't try to lie. I'll know if you do."

Si blinks. The what?

"Huh?" Gon asks, voicing her confusion for her.

"A Nen user who uses chains to fight. He asked you to follow us, right?" asks the other girl. Although Si doesn't look back, she can sense from the slight changes in aura that the girl's getting ready to fight. Not good. Although the new woman doesn't seem like much of a fighter, the pink-haired one does. Si needs some distraction- even the slightest one- to get free.

"Why would someone like that ask us to follow you when there's a two-billion Jenny bounty on each of your heads?" Si asks serenely. "Unlike some people in this room, the way we choose to get our money is legal."

Pink-haired Girl starts forward and Si reacts, grabbing her arm and dealing one fast, decisive chop to the back of her neck. Pink Girl grunts and staggers back from the force and Si follows, intending on capitalizing on her enemy's pain, but before Si can get far, she's tugged forcibly backwards by the other woman. She struggles, lashing out and hitting the woman solidly in the stomach with her elbow. The woman hisses, winded, and Si wrenches free of the woman's grip, spins around, and deals a devastating kick to the woman's chest.

Just as she'd thought she might have a chance at escaping this situation without using her Hatsu, Pink Girl flicks her wrist and blue, semi-transparent Nen threads appear in the air, instantly binding her and Gon. "Nice try," she says. "You're fast, but no match for my Nen ability."

Si struggles, fighting against the Nen threads, but they cut into her flesh warningly and she stops.

"Since you attacked us, I'm going to assume you're trying to hide something from us. Maybe about the chain user."

"We've already told you. We don't know anybody who fights with chains."

The woman with the long nose stares at her for a few seconds before her phone rings. "Understood," she says into the phone. "We'll head over." She turns to Si and Gon. "Your friend surrendered. You'll be coming with us now."

They don't resist as the two women roughly shove them forward through the building. They don't resist, but every step that Si takes, she thinks of ways to escape. Maybe if she jumped into the air high enough to knock the thread girl out with one kick, the girl's Nen binding them would disappear. If that fails, she could possibly wriggle her way out of the restraints if she dislocates her-

They're forced out of the building and into a waiting car, effectively ending Si's scheming, as there isn't much fighting to be done inside a car. Said car isn't big enough for all of them plus all the Spiders, so the other guy- Phinks, they call him- volunteers to catch up with them later. The three prisoners are ushered into the car and the long-nosed woman, Pakunoda, sits in the back with them.

"I'll ask you again," she says after the car's started, in a tone that's too casual to be real, "Do you know the chain user?"

Her eyes are directed at Gon. "My answer is the same. I don't!"

Pakunoda hums. Directs her gaze towards Killua. "And you?" He stays silent for a few seconds, before slowly shaking his head.

Then the woman slings an arm over Si. Si's brain had been trying to puzzle out their obsession with the chain user for the last few minutes or so, without success. But when Pakunoda's arm touches her, Si suddenly becomes suspicious. Why would anyone touch a prisoner, unless it was to cause them pain? Why would the Troupe accept an apparently weak member into their midst...unless her Nen ability was so unique, they couldn't resist?

 _"...don't try to lie. I'll know if you do."_

"What about you?"

Si decides to test out her theory. "You already know what I'm thinking, don't you?"

She'd half expected to be wrong, but from the way Pakunoda stiffens, she thinks she wasn't actually that far off. Si grins to herself, knowing that she's gained the mental advantage, at least in this one encounter. If she can keep Pakunoda wary and on her toes, it'll make her second-guess herself, and maybe even allow Si and her friends to escape.

The man with the sword, Nobunaga, laughs. "Would you look at that. Not even an hour in, and one of them already guessed your ability."

"Moron," Machi, the thread girl, hisses. "If you hadn't said that, Pakunoda might've been able to lie her way out of that. Now you've ruined it."

"Pakunoda? Lie?" He laughs again. "You clearly haven't ever seen her try. She's a terrible liar."

Machi huffs and pushes her foot down on the accelerator. "Whatever."

For the rest of the drive through Yorknew, their captors remain silent. Not wanting to aggravate the Spiders any more than necessary, Si, Gon, and Killua do as well. After around fifteen more minutes, the car stops in front of a seemingly abandoned warehouse, where they're once more roughly shoved out of the car. Their three captors walk behind them, prodding them to walk whenever one of them tries to stop or slow down.

They finally enter the main room, and Pakunoda steps forward, motioning around to the room, to the people standing or sitting on the rubble inside. "Welcome to our base."

* * *

 _"I've decided what I want for my second favor. I want you to kiss me."_

 _Her heart stops._

 _What?_

 _She just stares at him blankly for what feels like days, unable to form any coherent thought. Her surprise is so complete she thinks she might actually be going into shock. He...he wants her to kiss him. For a favor. The thought repeats over and over again._ He wants to kiss you, he wants to kiss you, he wants to kiss you.

 _After a minute or so, seeing that he'll get nothing from her unless he does something, Hisoka laughs. "_ _N_ _o need to look so horrified, Y/N," he says. "I promise I'm not a bad kisser. In fact," he smirks, leaning in close, "I think you'll find I'm quite a good one. Do you want to find out for yourself?" He leans back, still grinning, and taps his lips._

 _She keeps staring, slowly getting through her shock. And then she realizes what he'd asked. Not that he could kiss her, but that she kiss him. He wants her to make the first move, for whatever reason._

 _But..._

 _"Is there a problem?" Hisoka's smirk is partially gone, but she can't tell if he's impatient or concerned. Most likely the former; she doesn't think she's ever seen him display such a foolish sentiment as the latter._

 _"No, just...I, uh..." she flushes. "I haven't...um..." Hisoka waits, even though she has a feeling he already knows what she's trying to say. "I haven't ever...kissed anyone before." The last part is barely a whisper._

 _"Would you be alright with me being your first?" It's such an unexpected question, she just stares at him some more, but he recovers quickly, "After all, if you don't want to do it, it's hardly going to be enjoyable for me."_

 _"I..."_ is _she alright with doing this?_

 _At the same time, does she even have a choice?_

 _As if reading her mind, Hisoka says, "If you don't want to do it, I'll find something else for you to do. But I'm just saying, you'll definitely find this much more enjoyable than the alternative."_

 _She wonders what the alternative is, but decides not to ask. Instead, she considers. Is she really alright with kissing someone that, yes, she's attracted to, but isn't exactly the kind of person she'd want to be with long-term? Then again, if she's not interested in him in that way, should she even care? Kissing Hisoka should be just like hugging a relative you only see once a year and don't really care for but hug anyway: something obligatory, mildly uncomfortable, but quickly over and done with and never to be thought of again._

 _She can do that._

 _So she nods and bites her lip, watching as Hisoka's eyes flick down to follow the movement. "Okay."_

 _His smirk comes back. He taps his lips again and waits._

 _She takes a deep breath. She can't pretend she's not nervous, having never kissed anyone in her life and then being commanded to by Hisoka of all people. In fact, as she moves towards him, her nerves almost fail her and she almost bows out, tells him that she'll take the alternative instead- anything to not risk how bad this could end for her. But she continues forward, meeting Hisoka's gaze as she does. He must've decided not to put his contacts in today, because his eyes are a brilliant amber that seems almost gold in the afternoon sunlight._

 _Tentatively, she puts one hand on his shoulder and pulls him closer to her. Their eyes are still locked on each other's, but finally she looks down, unable to meet the intensity of his gaze. She takes another breath, steels herself, and kisses him._

 _Nothing amazing happens, at least not at first. There are no fireworks; there is no sudden, all-consuming passion as she puts her lips on his. But his lips begin to move against hers, and his hand tangles in her hair, and when she gasps, his tongue slips in her mouth and dances with hers._

 _She pulls back, breathless, and Hisoka follows, kissing her fiercely, free hand sliding down her back and pulling her closer to him. For a moment she's paralyzed by indecision- does she kiss him back? Does she pull away? But at last she makes up her mind and kisses him back. She's still tentative even faced with his passion, but he doesn't seem to mind, tongue warring against hers. For several long moments she thinks of nothing but the way his lips feel against hers, how his hands feel in her hair and on her back._

 _Finally, she pulls away again and this time he lets her, watching as she pants, hair in disarray. He looks dazed, almost, like he's not fully in control of himself, which she understands. She feels the same way as she runs a hand through her hair, trying to flatten it._ _After a few seconds, she looks back up at Hisoka. That kiss had not been what she'd expected, not in the least. She'd expected it to be awkward, for herself to be all fumbling limbs and apologies and for Hisoka to laugh at her pathetic attempts at kissing. Instead, it had been..._

 _She looks down again._

 _...nice. Nice is a good, safe word; she'll stick with nice. Even if her brain is whispering substitutes, things like_ good _or_ hot _or, a particularly risky one,_ something I'd do again. _She curses the thought as soon as it appears in her head. What had happened to the obligatory, soon-to-be-forgotten kiss she'd thought she was giving? What had happened to over and done with? Instead, she'd given a kiss and Hisoka had returned it, had even pursued her when she'd pulled away._

 _She doesn't know what to think. She doesn't know how to feel._

 _"Well," Hisoka says. His voice is quiet, and wobbles at the very end of his next words: "You can consider your favor to be paid."_

* * *

 **A/N:** And at last, after 24 chapters and like...80k words...comes the moment we've all been waiting for since I first published the prequel to this fic. Hurrah, and all that. I hope y'all didn't over-hype it in your minds and now are disappointed with how it fails to live up to your expectations, haha. As someone who's never kissed anyone in her life (not even, like, on the cheek) I really had no idea how to write it. So basically I just read a crapton of fics describing it in detail until I had like 5% of an idea what I was doing lol


	4. Shuffling Cards

"Welcome to our base."

They're roughly shoved into a large room filled with rubble and lit only by the moon shining overhead and a few small lanterns placed here and there. It takes Si a few seconds for her eyes to adjust, but once they do she takes stock of the room.

Pakunoda stands next to them, Nobunaga and Machi nearby. In front of them and all around stand the other Troupe members. A huge, scarred man with creepily long earlobes sits on the rubble; next to him is a small, dark-haired one with a bandanna. Out of the two, the second makes her far more wary: something about his scowl screams _danger._ Above them, perched high on the rubble, sits a strange, mummy man. She barely even glances at him, though, moving her gaze to- oh. Esu. What a surprise.

But apparently, it is one for Gon, since he makes a surprised sound while staring _directly at him._ Idiot.

Of course, Nobunaga picks up on it- it'd honestly be hard not to. "What is it? You know someone here?"

"Uh..." Gon looks away. Si looks desperately around the room for a solution. Her gaze alights onto another woman, dark-haired and wearing glasses. Something about her seems familiar...

"Oh yeah, you're right, Gon! That's the girl you beat at arm wrestling, right?"

Gon looks confused, before following her gaze. "Oh...yes!"

"What's this?" someone else asks. "Shizuku, this kid beat you?"

The girl barely glances at Gon. "I would never lose to a kid."

"Well," says the large, scarred man, "You were using your right hand."

"Why would I do that? I'm left-handed."

Small Bandanna Man and Scarred Man exchange glances, before dropping the subject. Apparently Shizuku's chronically forgetful. But Nobunaga seizes onto the subject with a quick, "You beat Shizuku?"

She doesn't like the gleam in his eye. But Gon answers, "yeah."

"Okay. Then I challenge you," Nobunaga says. He gathers his hair into a ponytail.

She exchanges a nervous glance with Killua, unsure where this is heading. She'd expected several things upon arrival here- interrogation and torture, to name a couple- but never had she imagined one of their captors challenging Gon to an arm wrestling competition.

However, as a true Enhancer through and through, Gon doesn't entertain such thoughts, one-track mind focused only on Nobunaga. "I accept." Killua and she have hardly enough time to exchange exasperated glances before Gon's hustled up to a stone slab, where he and Nobunaga take places opposite each other and hold out their right hands.

"Ready...go!"

Gon strains tremendously. Si can tell immediately that Nobunaga is stronger than Shizuku; not a whole lot, but enough. The two strain for half a minute, a minute, a minute and a half. A vein throbs in Gon's neck and a bead of sweat begins to drip down his face. Nobunaga's lips thin. With a final burst of strength, he shoves Gon's arm down, pinning it against the stone.

"Again." Nobunaga looks, and sounds, bored. But Si's been around this kind of people enough to know he has a reason behind this other than boredom. He must.

This time it takes longer, and Nobunaga's arm very nearly gets shoved down instead, but Gon loses once more. The older man lifts his arm back up, Gon copies, and they go again. And again. And again. Each time, Gon lasts progressively shorter. Each time as Gon picks his hand back up, it becomes bloodier. Each time, Si stubbornly resists looking at Esu, wishing she could ask him why he's allowing this to happen. Surely Esu doesn't want his toys hurt? But he says nothing, does nothing, and Si's patience grows thinner and thinner.

"When it comes to arm wrestling," Nobunaga says casually after a while, "What's my rank among the Spiders?"

The sheer absurdity of the idea that _the Phantom Troupe_ has _arm wrestling competitions_ serves to instantly melt her frustration away. She giggles. Her eyes flick to Esu and she abruptly imagines him arm wrestling the tiny, black-haired dude. The giggle becomes a full-out laugh.

"What's so funny?" Nobunaga demands, relaxing his grip on Gon's hand. The kid sags, obviously grateful for the reprieve.

"Nothing," she manages to get out, before the image in her brain becomes Esu and Nobunaga, grim-faced and serious, and her laughter increases. "Nothing, j-just-" she bends over, gasping for breath. "You have _arm wrestling_ competitions? Regularly?"

"Yes..." Confusion settles over Nobunaga's face, like he doesn't know why that would be so funny.

"You're- you're the _Phantom Troupe,"_ she gasps out. "You're arguably the most wanted criminals on earth. And you _arm wrestle_ each other?" She sets off into another bout of laughter, and is slightly gratified when Esu smirks, affected by her amusement.

"Shut up," comes a voice to her left. In the span of an instant, the dark-haired guy with the bandanna moves to her, pinning one arm viciously behind her. Normally, Si would've been fast enough to stop such a thing, but in her amusement she'd left herself completely unguarded. "Make fun of us again and you won't like what happens next."

She tries to contain her laughter, but utterly fails. The fact that the man would be willing to hurt her just because she made fun of his precious arm wrestling competitions sets her off again. But then his hands move to her right pinky. It takes barely a fraction of a second to realize what he's going to do; once she does, she twists out of his grip so quickly she thinks she manages to catch him by surprise. After all, none of the Spiders could've expected her to be as fast as one of them.

Then, once she's facing him again, she stares him straight in the eye. It's a clear challenge. The man stiffens, then one leg bends in preparation to lunge forward-

"Feitan." Nobunaga stands up, arm wrestling forgotten. "Stop."

"You are the same rank as I," the man- Feitan- hisses, but stops anyway. "You can't tell me what to do."

"I want to recruit them," Nobunaga says, shocking all of them. "Well, at least the black-haired kid. And killing one of his friends won't endear him to us. So, again. Stop, Feitan."

Feitan scoffs. "Recruit them? The boss'll never accept. And you still don't get to tell me what to do."

From the side, Machi sighs. "You know what we're supposed to do whenever there's a conflict. Stop being egotistical idiots and get it over with already."

Although he looks a little offended, Nobunaga pulls a coin out of his pocket and tosses it in the air. He catches it on his arm, covering it with his hand, and glances at Feitan.

"Tails."

"Heads." Nobunaga pulls his hand off, revealing a spider. Feitan steps backwards, away from Si, but the fury in his eyes remains unabated. She watches him retreat and silently thanks God for Nobunaga's intervention. If she'd ended up fighting Feitan, the entire Troupe probably would've fought with him.

"Nobunaga, if you want to recruit the kid, you can babysit him," a blond guy wearing lavender says. He seems sweet, unlike the rest of them. She wonders how such a seemingly sweet guy could've gotten into the Troupe. "As for the others, are we sure they don't have anything to do with the chain user?"

Machi nods. "Pakunoda checked on the way over. They know nothing."

"You're affiliated with no one?" Feitan asks coolly, directing his gaze to Gon instead of her. "The chain user is part of the Nostrade family. Have you had any dealings with them?"

The Nostrade family? The same one Kurapika's part of? Si subtly glances at Gon, knowing that if he just realized the same thing she did, he'll show it. But Gon, thank heavens, remains as oblivious as ever. She's never been as grateful for Gon's mulish fixation on what's before him: if he'd stopped to think, he might've alerted Pakunoda to the fact that he'd figured something out, and thus spilled Kurapika's secret. She flicks her eyes to Killua as well, but knows she needn't bother. She's certain that, if she figured it out, Killua is well on his way to the same. And Killua's smart enough not to let the knowledge show on his face.

"No," says Gon, glaring at Feitan. "It's like we told you. We don't have anything to do with the chain user!"

The blond guy sighs. "Since they don't know anything, let's let all of them but the black-haired kid go. We don't have time to waste guarding prisoners."

"We aren't leaving without Gon," Killua says coldly.

"You think we're giving you a choice?" Feitan asks.

"Eh, if I have to guard the kid, might as well guard the other two as well. If we let them go, they might try to interfere with our search for the chain user by trying to catch us again."

"You think they're that stupid?" Feitan asks.

Several of the Spiders exchange glances. It's the sweet-looking blond guy who speaks up. "Nobunaga, Feitan, we have more important things to be doing than arguing among ourselves. Let Nobunaga guard those three if he wants, but we need to get back to our search for the chain user."

Esu stands up. He'd been unusually quiet the entire time: back during the Hunter Exam, he'd always been the center of attention, most likely because he was by far the most powerful one there. Now, though, Si can't remember him saying a single word this entire time. Is it because the Spiders don't trust him? Is it because she, Gon, and Killua are there and he doesn't want to give away that he knows them?

Whatever the reason, Esu finally breaks his silence by saying, "I'll help him guard the captives. That will bring our number down to an even one once more, yes? You'll be able to pair off much easier."

The blond guy frowns. "Well, Feitan prefers to work alone, as you know. Why don't you switch with Nobunaga, if you're so eager to stay here."

"Wait," someone else says- the scarred dude. "Shouldn't Nobunaga be the one who guards them, if he's the one who wants to convince the boss to let that kid in?"

"Yeah," Machi agrees. "And why do you want to stay here so badly, anyway? It's not like you're injured or anything."

Esu frowns. "You did say that my arms would take awhile to heal back in Heaven's Arena..."

She stares him down. "That was months ago."

"Ah, but the scars still ache in cold weather, and it's freezing right now." A pause. Upon receiving basically the entire Troupe's (plus Si's) unimpressed looks, he sighs, hesitating for a moment longer. His gold eyes scan each person, Spider or no, like he can divine what they're thinking.

"Very well. The truth is, I'm interested in that boy as well. Can you blame me for wanting to make sure no...harm comes upon him?" Something about the way he says it is unnerving, enough so that Si fights the urge to flinch. "And I'm sure Nobunaga will be able to talk to the boss about him once we're done. Really, it's a win-win situation. I get to...play, and Nobunaga gets the chance to get him to join us."

"You say that like there's a chance I'll say yes!" Gon cries, apparently unaffected by Esu's general creepiness. "I'm never going to join you!"

Si sucks in a breath, but Nobunaga starts laughing. "This kid is great! Fine, you guard him til we get back, I don't care. But you better not let them escape, you hear?"

Esu flicks a hand carelessly. "Don't worry. I have it handled." He jumps down from his perch on the rubble and moves to them, briefly pointing at Gon, her, and Killua's hands. Pink aura flares, and as he moves his hand again, Si finds her own hand moving with it. Surprised, she sees Killua and Gon's hands move, too. "Come," he commands, starting to walk. The three of them have no choice but to follow.

Esu leads them down several passages, finally coming to a stop in a room a floor up and fairly far away from the Spiders. With a wave of his hands, they're forced inside. Esu follows and shuts the door behind them, setting down a lantern he'd carried with him. It's the only light in the entire room, but the room itself is small enough for it not to matter. The flickering light casts deep shadows on everyone, making Esu look strangely younger and softer, and Gon and Killua older.

Esu waves his hand again and the pink, rubbery substance fades from their hands. The three of them exchange looks, staring at Esu suspiciously. Si finds herself wondering what he's planning.

"Well, you're all rather quiet," he says. "I was expecting a little more...excitement."

Si rolls her eyes. "Cut it out with the innuendos." It's the boldest thing she's said to him yet, and she senses and ignores Killua's concerned look.

He looks thrown for a moment, then clutches a hand to his heart, making her head throb. "You wound me."

"If I could wound you the way I wanted, you'd have a nice black eye," she snaps, harsher than she'd intended because of the pain.

He blinks, but the swift anger she'd expected doesn't come. Instead, after a brief pause, he just says, "I'll help you escape the building once the Troupe is gone."

Silence. She stares at him for several seconds. "Why are you helping us? Won't that endanger your position in the Troupe? They already don't trust you." Her last sentence is more a hypothesis than a fact, but she sees his eyes narrow and knows it was spot-on.

"My only object upon joining the Troupe was to fight their leader. I have reason to believe that objective may be accomplished soon, so my standing within the Troupe matters not as long as I am not expunged from it within the next several days. And I would have to do quite a lot for that to happen."

"You still didn't answer why you're helping us."

He sighs. "Nothing escapes you, does it? Well, consider it another favor. After all, I'd hardly want my favorite toys to get killed, now would I?"

It isn't good enough- he's holding back something. But Si purses her lips and nods, accepting that she isn't going to get the truth from him anytime soon- maybe never. Besides, her head is hurting so much she feels like she might pass out. "When do we move?"

"Once they're far enough away to be safe. Shalnark's probably briefing them right about now. In the meantime..." he grins. "Want to play a game?"

Killua shakes his head instantly, but Gon asks, "What kind of game?"

He brings out a deck of cards. Before he can say anything, Si lets out a quiet groan, pressing a hand to her head- to one particular spot on her head. Esu glances up from his cards at the sound. His gaze sharpens, eyes narrowing, but he says nothing.

"Si, are you okay?" Gon asks. "Is your head hurting?"

It takes monumental effort for her to say, "Yes, but it's fine."

"You don't look fine," Killua tells her. "You look like you're about to pass out. If you can't walk on your own, we won't be able to get out of here fast enough to avoid the Phantom Troupe."

"That won't be a problem. I can carry her if necessary," Esu says. His voice gives her another stab of pain and she winces.

 _Don't think about it,_ a voice whispers inside her head. _Don't think about him, and the pain will stop._ But not thinking about Esu is impossible when they're in the same room together; when she can hear his voice, see his figure, watch him shuffle cards like His-

She screams, the sound strangled and choked from her efforts to quiet it. Her skull feels like it's splitting in two. _Don't think about him don't think don't think don't think._ She presses both hands on her head and rocks back and forth, willing herself _do. not. think._

Finally, what seems like hours later, the pain in her head recedes to a dull ache that's at least semi-bearable. She slowly opens her eyes, cringing at the light of the lantern Esu'd brought with them.

"Si?" Gon asks cautiously, like he was afraid he'd set her off again. "Are you okay now?"

"I'm better," she manages, and makes sure not to look in Esu's direction. "Should we go now?"

"Yes, the Troupe has probably left by now. We should leave." He leans down to pick up the lantern and opens the door. The three of them follow Esu back down hallways, through rooms, down stairs, and finally out the window of the first floor- he'd said going through one of the entrances was too dangerous, and Si suspects he hadn't wanted to risk them climbing out one of the upper-level windows in case she hadn't been able to take it. She isn't sure if she's offended or not.

Once they're a mile or so away from the Troupe's hideout, Esu stops and turns to them. They stop as well. "As you may have already guessed, Kurapika is the chain user who killed one of the Spiders, Uvogin. He and I are currently working together."

She'd expected as much but...she can't help a little bit of surprise at his last sentence. Gon looks even more surprised, while Killua's expression is as inscrutable as ever. "Again, why are you telling us this?" she keeps her eyes down and away from Esu's.

She hears the slight rustle of cloth; probably Esu shrugging. "I have my own reasons," he says simply. "Perhaps I thought it'd be fun to see your reactions when I revealed Kurapika's actions. Perhaps I wanted to make you even more cautious in your dealings with the Spiders, now that you hold the information that could destroy both me and Kurapika, if you let Pakunoda touch you. Perhaps I wanted to make you more eager to find Kurapika, before he gets himself killed and I lose a potentially interesting opponent in the future. Who knows?

"In any case," he continues, "you're no longer in danger of the Troupe finding you. I shall go back to the base now."

"What if some of the Spiders are there when you get back?" Killua asks. "And how are you going to fake letting us get away?"

Esu flicks a wrist and turns his back on them. "Leave that to me," is all he says, and walks away.


	5. Flames of Vengeance

The three of them watch Esu fade into the distance for approximately three more seconds before Si's head decidedly tells her to stop looking. She winces, shaking her head, and pulls out her phone. "I'm going to call Kurapika and inform him of what happened."

He takes so long to pick up Si almost goes to voicemail, but finally he picks up with a, "who is this?"

It's a bit hostile, so Si figures whatever's going on on his end isn't good. "Kurapika, it's Si. We just escaped the Troupe's compound."

There's a shocked silence. "You did what?"

"Long story short," she says, "there was a bounty put on the Spiders' heads and Gon needs money to get Greed Island from the auction. If we'd caught all the members with bounties on their heads, we'd have had a good chance at buying the game, so we thought we'd try and catch them."

Kurapika tries to say something, so she hastily continues, "yes, yes I know, not the best idea, but we did it. They caught us and brought us back to their hideout. Esu helped get us out. I wanted to warn you that all of the members are looking for you now, and somehow they know you're linked to the Nostrade family. It won't take them long before they find you."

Another silence. Kurapika sighs. "Thanks for telling me, but I've got it handled."

"I seriously doubt that."

Even though she can't see him, she can sense him bristle. "I am fully capable of taking care of both my employers and myself, Si. I don't need help- nor would you be of any help even if you tried. You're-"

"Don't." It's just one syllable, and her voice is quiet but steady. Somehow, it shuts Kurapika up instantly. "Kurapika, I know you want to face them on you own, but you're not making a smart decision. By refusing our help, you're putting not just yourself but your employers and coworkers in more danger. Belittling our power and our friendship for your own pride is not a smart move."

This time, he's quiet for several seconds. Si's about to hang up, assuming he isn't going to reply, when he abruptly tells her which room of the auction house they're staying in, then hangs up after telling her to be there within an hour. She turns to Gon and Killua and relays the information.

They arrive in front of the auction house in around thirty minutes, panting slightly from the exertion of running all the way there. It takes several more minutes to actually get in, as the security's through the roof since the guards apparently let the leader of the Phantom Troupe inside.

Finally they stand in front of the room. Gon knocks on the door and it opens almost instantly, revealing Kurapika. He looks paler than usual and drawn, and his eyes are bloodshot with dark circles under them like he hasn't slept for days.

He silently opens the door wider to allow them in. They step in and look around. It's extremely luxurious, as would be expected for a mafia gathering place. Although there are several chairs scattered throughout the suite, none of them make a move to sit down. A little farther back in the room, Si sees several people surrounding an unconscious, blue-haired girl, but Kurapika makes no move to introduce them to anybody, so she ignores them.

"Nostrade, may I speak to these three privately?" Kurapika asks an older man hovering beside the girl's bed. The man nods his permission, allowing Kurapika to bring the three of them into a different room in the suite. He shuts the door and turns to them. He opens his mouth to speak and is promptly cut off by Gon.

"Kurapika! I'm so sorry! I completely forgot about meeting up with you! We were-"

"It's fine, Gon," the other boy interrupts, a little coolly. "We can talk about that later. Si, you said the Phantom Troupe is tracking me down?"

She nods. "Trying to, anyway. We weren't able to hear all their plans, but they know you're part of the Nostrade family, and if one of them's a Hunter, they'll be able to get information about you through the Hunter website. All of you need to move somewhere else as soon as possible."

"Yes, I thought as much," Kurapika agrees. "I believe one of the Troupe seduced or captured Neon-san, my boss, in order to use her for something. For what, we're not sure, but he called an ambulance for her and then vanished, so he must've gotten what he'd wanted. I'm guessing he wanted to get inside the auction building."

"She's the one who's unconscious?" The girl seemed awfully young to be someone's boss.

Kurapika nods. "We don't know why, but he could've knocked her out with some kind of drug or something."

"We need to move her as soon as possible," Killua puts in, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "The Troupe will probably figure out where you are soon, especially if they meet back up with the Spider who did that to her in the first place."

"Yes, I was in the process of booking a different hotel from the one we're already staying at when you called. We'll be moving her as soon as I'm done here. However..." Kurapika pauses, hesitant for the first time Si can remember since they reunited in Yorknew. "I want to stay behind, so could you help them move her?"

"What?"

"No!"

"Are you stupid?"

Kurapika grimaces but doesn't look surprised. "I want to face them once and for all. Now that I've..."

"We already know, Kurapika," Gon says softly. "Esu told us. Um, well, Killua and Si had already figured it out, so I guess Esu just told me, actually."

Looking thrown, the older boy says, "What...what do you know?"

"That you've killed Uvogin," Si puts in, "that your Nen power involves chains, and that, somehow, those chains were strong enough to capture the strongest member of the Troupe. Which is probably the reason you picked him first, in order to test your power."

"Dammit. Do the Spiders know all this, as well?"

"No," Killua says. "We didn't put the pieces together until after it was safe. They have a Nen-user who can read minds, so we need to make sure they don't catch us again. If they do..."

Kurapika curses. "That's another reason why none of you should've gotten involved."

"But we did," Si reminds him. "We did get involved, and I don't know about Killua and Gon, but I'm going to see this through to the end. You said that there's a Spider somewhere around this building? Most likely, it's their leader, so let's all four of us go and track him down. We'll back you up, alright?"

The boy hesitates. "Okay. But not all of you. Nostrade, Neon's father, won't like us leaving his daughter unguarded. One of you should stay behind."

"I will," Killua volunteers.

Kurapika nods and the four of them walk back into the main room. Upon informing Nostrade of their plan and receiving his, admittedly reluctant, blessing, the three leave Killua behind to guard and exit the suite.

They pass through the opulent halls of the auction house as quickly as possible, keen to avoid the main rooms which house increasingly irate mafia members demanding to get their weapons back. It's a potential bloodbath none of them really wants to wade through.

It's as they're passing through that Si suddenly feels a trace of someone terrifyingly powerful and halts, gaze flashing up to the top of the stairs she and her group are currently in front of. Kurapika and Gon stop beside her, sending quizzical glances towards her, but they follow her gaze just in time to see Silva and Zeno Zoldyck walk out to the railing and stop.

"I can't feel them at all," Kurapika murmurs to her as the two Zoldycks begin to address the crowd, "but you knew exactly where they were. How?"

"I was trained for ten months by a guy as powerful as they," she replies, equally quietly. "I'd hope by that time I'd be able to identify similar powers."

Kurapika gapes at her and opens his mouth, perhaps to ask if he could get trained by Nigg too, but at that moment the Zoldycks finish up their address- or, more accurately, intimidation- and leave. The three of them follow for a short while, but the two assassins fade into thin air within minutes, forcing the three of them to head off on their own.

It's not until a few more minutes pass by that Si stops and mutters, "shit."

"What's wrong?" Kurapika asks as she apologizes to Gon, who blushes and waves her faux pas away.

"Do either of you know about En?"

Gon slowly shakes his head but Kurapika nods and asks, "you can do En?"

"Not very well, but it's every bit that counts, right?"

She closes her eyes and concentrates, focusing intently. Nigg had taught her how to do En a scant two months before, and although her aura was by that time only strong enough to form an En encompassing thirty-five meters, now she feels her aura extending almost to forty. It's heartening how strong she's grown and how quickly that strength is increasing.

Most En users can't really identify the nature of the animal or object moving inside their En- can usually only identify its shape and movement. But Si, partially because of her Hatsu and partially because of her mastery of En itself, can, like some of the stronger En users, identify the aura of the people inside her En's circumference. As she reaches outwards, she catalogs the presences of various auctioneers and mafia members, then stiffens as she feels a vaguely familiar aura, something multi-colored and smelling of dust and paper.

What?

As she stiffens, Kurapika and Gon turn to her questioningly. She sees the confusion in their eyes and manages, "I can sense someone...familiar, I think. But I don't know of anyone with an aura like that."

"Maybe you knew them before they had Nen," Kurapika says.

Si nods distractedly. Her thoughts flick between various people, considering who it could be. Illumi? But no, she knows his aura now: cold and violent, metallic-scented and sharp. Perhaps it's one of the newly-made Hunters from the Hunter Exam who didn't have Nen before, like Pokkle? But she can't imagine that Pokkle's aura could ever feel like _this-_ this tinge of cruelty and urge to survive and protect above all else.

Her feet begin moving in the aura's direction before she even considers the pros and cons of such a plan. The aura starts as a tantalizing wisp at the very edge of her En, just barely close enough to be felt. As they get closer, however, it becomes stronger and stronger. Over the months with Nigg, Si had learned to read auras as an extension of their users' minds, decoding their emotions and personality with it. She's by no means perfect, but she senses within this person a loyalty so strong life itself couldn't take it away. And with it, she senses danger.

They continue towards the aura. After a minute or so, Kurapika asks her if she found their target. Si winces and replies with a guarded 'perhaps.' She feels bad lying to him and Gon, but she _has_ to know who this is. She knows she's never felt this Nen before.

So why does it feel so familiar?

At last, they end up in front of the door to the room the Nen user is in. Si takes a deep breath, glances at her friends once, and pushes open the door.

The man inside slowly turns to look at them. He has dark hair and dark eyes, and his forehead is covered with a bandanna. He locks eyes with Si and his eyes widen, then narrow.

"Who are you?" he asks.

"It's you!" she exclaims at the same time. She stares at him in disbelief, unable to reconcile her past memory of him with the present. His aura now is almost animalistic in its fierceness, valuing loyalty and wanting to survive above all else. She doesn't- cannot- fathom how that is anything like the man who saved her from a fate worse than death.

But the man's gaze has shifted now, shifted from her over to Gon, then to Kurapika. To the chains on his right hand. She tracks the look, deciphers the expression- carefully controlled rage- and makes a wild leap.

 _"You're_ the Phantom Troupe leader?"

The man stops. His eyes snap back to hers. Instead of answering, he asks his own question. "I know you, don't I? You seem familiar, but I can't quite recall why."

"Two years ago," she says warily, "you stopped a...specific person...from doing something...undesirable."

For a few seconds he continues to stare at her, uncomprehending, but finally he makes the connection in his mind. "You're that girl. The one with the dead-"

"Yes, I am," she interrupts as quickly as she can, glancing at Gon and Kurapika then back to the Phantom Troupe leader. "But enough of that. I'm grateful for what you did back then, but you've still slaughtered hundreds of people and I'm not going to forgive you for that."

The man tilts his head, then smiles softly.

"Of course you wouldn't. Not after what you've been through. That's understandable. However, I didn't do this simply because I love killing. I did it for a reason. I did it-" he looks at Kurapika- "for him."

Kurapika steps forward, the chains on his hand glinting. His eyes flash red.

"Ah, the Kurta Clan, was it? They had such lovely eyes-"

A chain flashes past the man's head; he deftly dodges. A beat passes, then his Ren flares up, a brilliant rainbow of scents and sounds and colors to her, a dull and toneless white to everyone else. "Very well. I suppose I should at least tell you my name before we fight, shouldn't I? I am Chrollo Lucilfer."

"I am Kurapika of the Kurta Clan."

Although Si has her doubts as to whether Kurapika will manage to beat Chrollo or not, she steps back anyway and pulls Gon with her. Kurapika managed to kill the physically strongest Nen user in the Troupe without a scratch- although the dark circles and the paleness of his skin suggests otherwise. If he managed to kill Uvogin, he'll at least hold his own against Chrollo for awhile.

She hopes.

In the meantime, she'll watch the fight and, if Kurapika loses, hopefully she'll have picked up enough information about Chrollo's abilities to be able to injure him enough to get them all away. She doesn't consider whether she's strong enough to win against him, because at that point it will be about protecting Gon and getting Kurapika to safety, nothing else.

Chrollo conjures up a book and flips to a page.

There's a second of nothingness, then the very air around her sucks in, pulling her towards Chrollo. Thinking quickly, Si grabs onto a doorknob and clings to it. Swirls of wind and Nen blow past her, lifting her bodily off the ground. She manages to turn her head enough to look at Kurapika, who's being sucked towards Chrollo as well. Caught completely off guard, the chain he sends towards Chrollo misses hugely.

 _That's weird,_ she thinks. _Shouldn't it have hit Chrollo head on?_

The tugging sensation abruptly stops and Si thuds heavily to the ground along with Gon, who'd grabbed onto an adjacent doorknob. It's only then, as Si sees Kurapika's next throw land just as far from its mark, leaving him barely enough time to dodge Chrollo's retaliation, that she realizes what's going on.

Chrollo's power isn't sucking everything in towards him; it's controlling the air around him. A Manipulation ability, possibly, but she's never heard of Manipulators using a Conjured object to help them with their ability. After all, a Manipulator is fairly weak at Conjuring and vice versa. However, regardless of that, it seems to work fairly decently, which isn't good. Kurapika's chains are exclusively for ranged combat, meaning he won't be able to hit Chrollo.

She bites back a curse. Whatever power he'd put into those chains to give him an edge against Spiders will be useless if he can't make contact. He needs a distraction- something to take Chrollo's focus away from wielding his Nen on Kurapika just for a moment. Si's looking around the empty room, contemplating every possibility for a distraction, when Zeno and Silva Zoldyck walk right into the room and cause one for her.

As the two new figures enter, Chrollo turns, propelling Kurapika's chains away from him. Kurapika attempts to attack again, but even distracted, Chrollo dodges nimbly and leaps high over Kurapika. He lands several meters away, splitting the distance between the two assassins and Kurapika.

Then he speaks. "We meet again. I seem to simply keep meeting old acquaintances today."

"I'm surprised you remember me," says Silva. Somehow, standing so close to him, he seems even larger than she remembers.

"How could I not? You killed one of my own."

"It wasn't easy."

Kurapika still lingers behind Chrollo, looking uncertain- and frustrated- about this turn of events. She doesn't blame him. Kurapika is too honorable to attack even his arch-nemesis from behind; such a death would give Kurapika no satisfaction, no feeling of completed vengeance.

Zeno glances at the Hunter. "You're the boy Nostrade put in, aren't you? Go. You are no match for this man."

Dead silence.

Then Kurapika turns scarlet, hate-filled eyes towards the assassin. "I do not care what it costs me. I will destroy the Phantom Troupe, I will collect my people's eyes, and I will give them their proper rest."

"Scarlet eyes, eh? Are you from the Kurta Clan?" Without waiting for a response, the old assassin goes on. "No matter. Kurta or not, you cannot possibly hope to defeat this man. Even a Troupe member is beyond your skill."

"I've already killed one of them."

Zeno blinks, as much surprise as Kurapika will get. He's about to say more when Silva says, "this man can steal abilities. If you fight him, you risk losing your Nen. Leave this to the professionals."

"I do not care," Kurapika repeats, and this time his voice rises in anger, his aura swelling with his unfathomable, violent rage; a god of vengeance in his own right. "I do not care what it costs me! I have paid everything already; what more can be taken?" He points a finger at Chrollo. "This man has slaughtered my entire people and many more besides, for nothing but greed!"

Something flickers in Chrollo's eyes.

"He gouged out the eyes of my family, of my friends, of my entire clan; he has taken my childhood, my home, my _everything!_ What is it to me if he takes my life as well?" Kurapika lets out a bitter chuckle and his eyes blaze redder. "He's already taking it! My life is bleeding away second by second, hour by hour, and you worry about my _Nen?"_

Silva's hard expression seems to have softened, and for a moment Si wonders if Kurapika has persuaded him. But Zeno is stone-hard, unchanged. He's probably heard far worse, _caused_ far worse than what Kurapika has just said. "Be that as it may, we were paid to do this job, and you have not been. If you try to get in our way, it won't go well for you."

Kurapika walks forward, towards Zeno. His eyes are a flame of challenge.

"Kurapika, stop!" Si steps forward, holding her hands out desperately. She doesn't want to think about how bad this will be if they invoke the wrath of not just Zeno, but Silva as well. "Let them. Even if they manage to kill Chrollo, there will be other members to kill. You don't need to kill every single one yourself."

"No, but the leader should still be mine," he hisses. "This is my right as a Kurta. This is my _justice_ as the last Kurta, to kill the man who ordered our genocide."

A quick glance over Kurapika's shoulder tells her that Zeno and Silva have started towards Chrollo. She, Gon, and Kurapika need to clear out of here quickly before the collateral danger those three leave in their wake becomes too destructive.

"Kurapika, we can try again," Gon says. "Remember what you told me when we first met? You said you wanted to collect your people's eyes. Don't you still want that?"

Kurapika hesitates so long Si wonders if he'll even answer. The fire in his eyes flickers briefly, but the red still stays. "I...yes, I want that. But that doesn't matter! The Spiders deserve death for what they've done to us!"

The three men are speaking together now, either ignorant or apathetic to Kurapika's anger. Si bites her lip. They need to get out, and quickly. "If we don't leave now, you'll die before you're able to exact vengeance on any of the Spiders. Zeno and Silva will kill you if you walk that way."

"I know," he says, quieter now. "I know, but- but that doesn't make it any easier. To- to just _walk away..._ "

A long silence. Si's about to take both of them by the arm and manhandle them to safety, but finally Kurapika speaks again.

"I...I will go with you. You're right, Si. I...have no right to put you in any more danger. I could get you and Gon killed if I stay here any longer." He smiles softly. "I know you well enough to know you'd never leave without me, right?"

Si nods slowly.

A colossal thud rocks the room, nearly sending the three of them sprawling. Si looks back to see the three of them moving so swiftly she can barely keep track of them. Chrollo's book is still in his hand, but it's closed. She, Gon, and Kurapika need to get out before he opens it and uses his Nen ability again.

"We need to go before they end up killing us accidentally," she says, eyes narrowing. "And we need to get Neon out of here. There's no telling how huge the collateral damage could be from this fight, and we don't want to lose your boss."

Kurapika sighs. His shoulders slump. His chained fist clenches, and the metal rattles with the movement. "Fine. Let's go."

The first step he takes is dragging, like he's going to turn back around at any moment. But Gon grabs onto his hand and tugs him along, and soon the three of them are running back to the Nostrades' suite.

Si only glances back once, and hates herself for hoping Chrollo gets killed then and there.

* * *

 **A/N:** One thing I've never understood about that time when Chrollo foretold Hisoka and the Troupe's fortunes and Hisoka fakes his fortune: when Nobunaga is all about to kill Hisoka and stuff Chrollo's like 'oh yes let me ask him questions' and Hisoka's like 'this is a good plan I'll just pretend Kurapika Judgment Chained me.'

Like...they have a mind reader. A literal, actual mind reader who can sift through memories at will. Why did no one think about that? All Chrollo would've had to do is tell Pakunoda to go through Hisoka's memories.


	6. Wreck

The three of them walk back to Nostrade's suite in silence. Kurapika has a murderous aura around him. Deep-set, unrelenting rage lies in every line of his face, every swirl of his Nen. As they walk up to the door, Si stops him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you," she says quietly, "for doing this."

His rage flickers. "I didn't want to put you in any more danger than I already have."

Gon opens the door and steps in. They follow. Si quickly reports the events to Nostrade herself in order to spare Kurapika the pain of doing so himself. After checking up with the still-unconscious Neon, they decide to call in an ambulance to take her out safely. Once it's called and Neon and Nostrade aboard it, the four of them head back to Gon's hotel and meet up with Leorio.

Back in the relative security and anonymity of the hotel room, the five of them can finally relax a little. Kurapika had been tense the entire walk back, red flickering through his eyes every once in a while. But now as he plops down onto a sofa, the tension he'd carried all day finally melts away. The others copy him: Gon lies across Killua and Si's lap and closes his eyes contentedly; Leorio drops down next to Kurapika. It had been a long day for all of them, and they are all exhausted.

No one speaks for several seconds. Si's about to break the silence when Kurapika's phone rings.

"Hello? Melody?"

Si isn't really watching or listening, as tired as she is. She's debating the merits of going to sleep as the phone conversation occurs, only barely noticing the new tension that seeps through Kurapika. But then he says, "The Troupe...is dead?"

Her eyes snap open. Kurapika's gone pale, aura turning bone-white and lifeless.

"No..." he says, almost a whisper, then scarlet flashes through white. "No, that can't be true! I won't believe it until I see it with my own eyes!"

He hangs up without a goodbye and turns to them, scarlet and white weaving through his Nen like blood-spattered snow. "According to the authorities, the Troupe is dead. They found bodies."

Si stares at him for a few seconds, wildly calculating. "Bodies? The Zoldycks only cornered Chrollo, not any of the others. I can't imagine there'd be anyone else powerful enough to take on the Troupe."

Kurapika nods, but his eyes flick around the room distractedly. "Exactly. It's fake; it has to be. I...they can't be dead. They _can't!"_

He stands up, eyes blazing, more unbalanced than Si's ever seen him. The sofa he'd been sitting on squeaks backwards from the force of his actions.

"We'll come with you!" Gon says, standing up as well. "We'll come with you to see if they're really dead or not, okay?"

But Kurapika ignores Gon, eyes shuttering closed like the words hadn't even registered. Si sees his lips move in some unheard phrase before he abruptly turns on his heel and exits the room.

The four of them stare as the door bangs shut.

"We need to go after him," Leorio says. "There's no telling what he'll do when he's like this."

The three others nod in agreement. They chase after Kurapika, running down the stairs instead of waiting for an elevator. As they near the bottom, Kurapika walks past the stairwell and Gon shouts,

"Kurapika, wait!"

He continues to pass by like they don't exist.

"Kurapika, we're coming with you," Si says.

He pauses.

"What kind of shitty friends would let you go there alone?" Leorio asks, eyes soft, as he walks into the lobby to stand by Kurapika. "We're coming with you. If they're real, then we'll help you recover the eyes. If they're not...we'll help you kill them."

Kurapika looks away and takes a deep breath. He'd come closer to losing it than Si had ever seen him come before.

"Fine."

He turns and starts walking, and the four of them trail after.

It takes around thirty minutes to get to the site the mafia had given as the location of the bodies. They stand outside the gate for a few moments, more to give Kurapika a chance to compose himself than anything, although Gon does a decent job of pretending to trip over himself and tie his shoelaces. Once that's done, Si brushes past the still hesitant Leorio and heads straight in. She has a feeling Kurapika won't appreciate any more emotion right now.

Indeed, Kurapika comes up abreast of her, then moves ahead, an unreadable expression on his face. They round the bend...

And all five of them stop. A few dozen bystanders- policemen, reporters, mafia members- stand in several small groups, each huddled around a specific object. Si doesn't need to move any closer to know what those objects are.

As if in a trance, Kurapika strides up to the closest group, pushing past a photographer and bending over. Si follows.

Lying against a wall stained with still-drying blood, staring vacantly at nothing, clothes tattered and covered in dust and blood, is Chrollo. Si's heart drops and she curses herself for the pain his death makes her feel. His saving her doesn't mean he didn't deserve to die- doesn't mean one good deed can wash out the sins of a hundred murders.

Silently, almost vacantly, they move on to the next body, then the next and the next. Machi, pink hair turned red with blood. Feitan, lying face-down in a pool of blood. Shizuki, glasses shattered and body slumped over. Shalnark, eyes unseeing. Franklin, shoved through a concrete wall, head caved in. All of them are violent, gruesome deaths.

Kurapika only stares at them as they walk from body to body, only stares his scarlet-eyed stare that slowly fades to gray as they walk away from the last one.

"Kurapika," Gon tries as they're walking away from the place. He reaches out a hand towards the blond, trying to touch him, but Kurapika shrugs it off with a snarl and turns his back to Gon.

"Don't touch me."

"It's okay, Gon," Si says quietly. She wants to reprove Kurapika for reacting that way, but she can't think of a way to do it that would get a response- at least, not the kind of response she wants. "Let's go back to the hotel, okay?"

She's met with silence.

"Okay?" she presses.

All three of the boys are still focused on Kurapika; Kurapika whose back is turned, Kurapika whose shoulders are slumped. Si bites her lip. It takes a moment for her to make up her mind as to what she should do next.

She breathes a silent apology and barks, "Snap out of it!"

Kurapika jumps. Turns to her, eyes wider than normal and shocked.

"Is that it? These people who slaughtered your people are dead now! You should be grateful to whoever did it. Are you jealous that you weren't able to end them yourself?" Si doesn't give him a chance to respond. "If so, too bad! We, your friends- we're here _now,_ and your people's eyes are still out there. Now. Get over yourself! Stop living in the past and start living here in the present. With us."

Her voice had gotten softer towards the end, quieting from a near-shout to a near-whisper. Kurapika just stares at her, frozen.

For a long moment, no one speaks. In the seconds of silence, Si begins to regret every word she'd spoken. She isn't used to taking initiative like that, to voluntarily scold someone for their actions, but she couldn't see any other way around it. Now, though, it seems it's done more harm than good.

Kurapika lowers his head. "I..."

"Si's right." Leorio steps forward. "But enough of that. You know what I heard? There's this restaurant maybe a block or so away that sells Spider Eagle egg soup!"

"Let me guess," Killua grumbles, "For the 'fair' price of twenty thousand Jenny per bowl."

"Well..."

"Hah! Called it!"

Leorio bristles, looking abashed and annoyed at the same time. "Okay, not _twenty_ thousand!Maybe just...ten thousand?"

Killua snorts with all the haughtiness of a boy who'd never spent several million Jenny on snacks within the span of a few weeks. "I'm going back to the hotel. Gon?"

"Uh..." the dark-haired boy looks between Kurapika and Killua. "Kurapika?"

Kurapika hesitates.

"I...will go back with you," he says at last.

"It's settled, then," Killua says, shooting Leorio a look. "None of us are dumb enough to spend twenty thousand on a bowl of soup."

"It's _ten!_ And you have room to talk! How much have you spent on your-"

Killua sends Leorio a silencing glare and stalks off. After a few seconds, Gon follows. Si exchanges long-suffering looks with the remaining Leorio and Kurapika, then sighs.

"Well," she says, "best not keep Killua waiting."

Leorio and Kurapika nod in agreement and stride off. Leorio puts a hand on Kurapika and murmurs something quietly to Kurapika, who slides out of Leorio's grip and murmurs something back. She'd just started to follow them, several paces back to give them privacy, when her phone goes off. Her brow furrows as she digs it out of her pocket, eyes meeting with an unfamiliar number. Who the hell is calling her?

Hesitantly, she holds it up to her ear. "Who is this?"

"Si darling, don't play coy with me."

She has to fight the urge to throw the phone on the concrete. As it is, she scowls and snaps, "What do you want, Esu?"

Kurapika and Leorio are watching her now, and Gon and Killua have stopped several feet ahead, all of them having heard her speak.

"Nothing much," Esu says casually. "I just have a short message to pass on."

"Well then, pass it on already."

A short chuckle. "The message is this: the bodies are fake."

Silence, except for the click of a call hung up. Si gapes at the now-black phone in her hands uncomprehendingly.

What?

The bodies are...fake?

"Kurapika." The name is out of her mouth before she can think to take it back. "The bodies are fake."

* * *

 _"Y/N."_

 _She pauses, taking the phone away from her ear for a moment to stare at it. Hisoka hadn't even given her a chance to say hello; he'd just started talking. Instantly. "What's up?"_

 _"I...I need a second favor."_

 _His tone makes her pause. She's never heard him hesitate. "_ _W_ _hat's wrong?"_

 _Hisoka doesn't immediately bristle at her words, and when he speaks, his words are carefully enunciated, the speech of a man who knows he's drunk or drugged but wants to hide it. "It is Satoshi. He is in danger, and I'm currently unable to help him."_

 _"What do you need me to do?" She's already off_ _her bed, sliding her shoes on. She's not sure when this shift occurred- when Hisoka's well-being, mentally and physically, began to be so important to her._

 _"Drive to his school. Pick him up and get him somewhere safe, preferably somewhere with a lot of people around. Do your best to shake off a tail, but if you can't-" Hisoka cuts off suddenly with a gasp._

 _"Hisoka? What's going on?"_

 _"Like I said, I'm currently rather indisposed and cannot get to Satoshi myself. I'd-" he hisses "-be quite grateful if you could do this for me. Like I said, I'll even make it a favor."_

 _She's halfway to her mom's car now, and she calls out a brief explanation to her dad as she rushes past him into the garage. She barely hears what Hisoka says other than_ currently rather indisposed _and that grunt he'd made just seconds before, but then the full meaning of the sentence becomes clear._

 _She's not really sure what makes her say it. All she knows is that Hisoka sounds like he's in pain, and for someone with a pain tolerance as high as his, it isn't good. Hisoka's in pain, and he sounds more scared than she's ever heard him, and instead of asking her to help_ him _he just wants to save his little brother._

 _"Not a favor." The words spew from her mouth like a mouthful of hot coffee, and are just as hard to take back._

 _"Y/N, c'mon, we've been over this, you can't back out from a favor." He sounds_ _desperate, almost. His words are slurring together, but now she wonders if it's from pain and not from alcohol._

 _She slides into the driver's seat and cranks the car._

 _"It's not a favor," she repeats. "I'm doing it, but it's not a favor. I don't need to be coerced into helping you when you're in trouble."_

 _Silence on the other end. It's so quiet she can hear his labored breathing, hear a faint, metallic clink in the background. A metal dish? A knife?_

 _"Hisoka? Can you tell me the address for Satoshi's school? I don't remember it." She's only ever been there once, and that was a week and a half ago. She could look it up in her text history with Hisoka, but that would take too long._

 _Hisoka tells her the address. Then he says quietly, "I owe you a favor after this."_

 _Her lips thin. She pulls out of the driveway, pausing to enter the address into the car's GPS. "I told you, no favors. We're friends, right? This is what friends do for each other, Hisoka."_

 _"Then..." he pauses, and she hears the metallic clang once more. "...thanks. I guess. If you actually manage to get my brother to safety."_

 _He takes a deep breath. His voice switches from almost-vulnerable to arrogant. "Of course, you'll probably screw everything up and I'll have to come save the day, won't I?"_

 _She rolls her eyes. She knows exactly what he's trying to do- but just this once, she'll let him. "Definitely. I screw up everything I've ever done. I'm just a complete failure, doomed to be the damsel in distress for all eternity...where should Satoshi be? Is he still in class?"_

 _"He should be getting out of his last class soon." Hisoka sighs, muttering something about 'damn summer school' under his breath. "I just told him you're coming to pick him up."_

 _"Got it. So I need to drive to his school, pick him up, avoid a tail, and get us somewhere crowded until you can catch up with us. Right?"_

 _"Yes. If both you and Satoshi lose your phones and you can't call me on another phone, stay in the crowded area for a few hours, then start back towards my house. I'll be waiting there."_

 _"Alright."_

 _Click._

 _She takes a deep breath. Looks at the GPS. Fear, sharp and sour, rises up inside her, but she wasn't lying earlier when she told Hisoka he was her friend. She wants to help him, even though she can't deny the idea of the risks that she's taking make her want to throw up._

 _The drive to Satoshi's school takes an eternity and an instant both. She pulls up to the large, fancy building with one part of her brain stuck at a traffic light she'd stopped at five minutes before and the other thinking out various scenarios of her death. Satoshi is nowhere to be seen, but she supposes that it isn't that odd. Hisoka would've told his brother he was unsafe, and Satoshi's smart enough to know that, as a general rule, there's safety in numbers. He would've wanted to stay inside where there are at least some people still left, rather than outside and alone._

 _She rounds the loop and stops at the main entrance. She leaves the key in the ignition and climbs out, locking the car as a precaution. As she enters the building, she can't help but glance swiftly around at her surroundings before shivering and running inside._

 _"Satoshi?" she asks softly, looking around at the seemingly empty hallway. The lights are still on, but everything is eerily quiet; no footsteps, no voices, nothing. "Satoshi?"_

 _Silence._

 _"Satoshi?" she asks, louder, beginning to walk further down the hallway. Her fear is growing, and she's beginning to consider turning back and waiting for Satoshi to come to her himself._

 _A hand covers her mouth._

 _She screams instinctively around the hand, thrashing violently. She thrusts her elbow back, hitting something soft and kind of squishy. When she turns around, panting, it's to see-_

 _"Satoshi?"_

 _"Shh! Not so loud," the boy hisses, glaring at her. His face is stained red in the harsh, fluorescent lighting, but she can't tell if it's from anger or embarrassment. "Anyone could've heard you just now. What kind of quiet voice was that?"_

 _"I had no idea where you were!" she defends herself hotly, crossing her arms. "And-"_

 _Satoshi interrupts her with a dismissive gesture and an equally dismissive look. "We need to go. Did you leave the car on?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _"Good. You're not completely useless."_

 _She huffs, annoyed at being insulted by a twelve-year-old boy, but then footsteps begin to echo down the long hallway. Satoshi mutters something_ very _age-inappropriate and grabs her upper arm, then takes off, dragging them the few steps to the door. Si shakes him off violently, glaring, and hisses, "I can move perfectly fine by myself!"_

 _"Then why aren't you doing it?" Satoshi hisses back, shoving the door open._

 _Si tells him to do something that's also very age-inappropriate and follows him through the door. The footsteps are nearing quickly, and she's almost grateful for Satoshi; without him there, she might've panicked._

 _She clicks the unlock button and swings herself into the driver's seat, Satoshi dropping into the passenger side a moment later. As she's shifting the car into gear, the boy mutters,_

 _"There's a black car behind us. I think it's the tail."_

 _"Should I floor it?"_

 _"Not yet. If they don't realize we know, we might be able to shake them off easier."_

 _Si nods and presses the gas, enough to surpass the speed limit but hopefully not enough to tip off their tail. The black car indeed starts moving as soon as they do, following several hundred yards back. It's enough that an unsuspecting person wouldn't think twice about it._

 _"What did nii-san tell you to do?"_

 _"He didn't tell you?"_

 _Satoshi's silence is enough of an answer._

 _"He said to find a crowded place and stay in it, and to do our best to shake off a tail. He didn't say what we were supposed to do after we got to the crowded place."_

 _Satoshi considers for a moment. "There's a pool party one of my classmates is throwing today. I turned down the invitation, but it should serve to keep us relatively safe."_

 _"Are you sure this is the best thing for me to be going to? Who am I even going to say I am? We don't really look like siblings." Satoshi's hair is a brilliant red she personally doesn't think humanly possible, and his skin is past albino._

 _"You're my brother's girlfriend who's dropping me off. You decided to stay awhile because I have social anxiety and don't get along very well with other children."_

 _She nearly runs a red light. "I-I'm not-"_

 _"That's who you're pretending to be," Satoshi says, sighing. "How dumb are you, seriously."_

 _"Dumb enough to crash into that pole over there and kill us both out of spite," she retorts, but her eyes go to the rear-view mirror and the bite fades out of her tone when she sees the black car is gaining ground on them._

 _"You're gonna turn left up here," the boy tells her, tone quieter as if he'd just noticed the same thing. "Keep it casual. Don't give it away. Let them make the first move."_

 _The light flashes green. She fights against accelerating instantly as she pulls away and begins to turn left. Her hands are trembling against the steering wheel. Satoshi murmurs more directions which she mechanically follows, but all the time the black car pulls closer and closer. She can't stop the fear building inside her or the voice in her head that whispers that she's never taken a self-defense class in her life, and that Hisoka himself said Satoshi's useless physically. The kid's brains are nothing if neither of them have the physical power to back it up._

 _"They're gaining quickly," she says, unable to keep the wobble out of her words._

 _"Keep it natural," Satoshi orders, his knuckles whitening from how tightly he clenches his hands. "Do_ not _go any faster until they do something."_

 _She nods silently, squeezing the steering wheel tighter, leg muscles tensing with the withheld urge to press the accelerator._

 _They're scarcely a half-mile away from the party when the black car makes its move. One moment, her eyes are on the mirror keeping track of it. She takes her eyes off of it...and the next second, the car's gone._

 _Her eyes widen. She's not naive enough to believe that the people inside would just give up that easily, which means-_

 _"TO YOUR RIGHT!"_

 _She jerks the wheel violently and the car careens off the road, wheels barely managing to keep contact with the ground. Gunfire sounds and she instinctively ducks, but no bullets fly through the glass. Instead, she grunts as the car skids to a halt and the seat-belt slams her backwards into her seat._

 _"They shot the tires," Satoshi says, so quickly it takes her a moment to process. "They must have marksmen in there. Don't try anything stupid; they'll kill you before you can take three steps."_

 _Her heart beats like a hummingbird's wings inside her throat. Is what Satoshi said true? Could...could men with that amount of skill possibly be tailing_ them? _Terror swells, constricting her chest, dampening her forehead with perspiration. She's not ready to die. She's barely even lived._

 _As the silence grows more oppressive, she finds herself wishing she'd never met Hisoka or Satoshi. It's because of Hisoka that she's in this situation in the first place;_ _because of them that she's already given so much. Tears build in her eyes and she blinks them back desperately._

 _"Get out and put your hands above your head." The voice is deep and masculine and sounds from outside the car._

 _She exchanges a single stricken glance with Satoshi, then the two of them unfasten their seat-belts and step out of the car, awaiting their doom._

* * *

 **A/N:** By the way, I'm basing the currency of Jenny off of the Japanese Yen. Since you probably thought that ten thousand Jenny for a bowl of soup was unbelievably expensive...based on good old Google, ten thousand Yen is only around 89 American dollars. All told, although that's still horrifyingly expensive, it isn't quite as bad.

Also, someone mentioned to me that they were finding the usage of Y/N jarring in flashbacks. Honestly, I feel the same, as Si has become more of an OC than a reader insert to me, but I was curious what all of you think. Would you prefer that I kept the flashbacks to using Y/N, or to start using Si?


End file.
